Chiba ¨C When Yuto Horigome and other elite skateboarders competed in their sport¡¯s Olympic debut at last year¡¯s Tokyo Games, they performed only for each other in the confines of the unprecedented ¡°bubble¡± that allowed the world¡¯s largest sporting event to take place in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nine months later, many of those skaters were given a second chance to hear cheers from local crowds as the X Games ¡ª known for igniting the mainstream popularity of action sports and elevating many top athletes into household names ¡ª made its Japan debut over the weekend at Chiba¡¯s Zozo Marine Stadium.
¡°It was really lonely to compete without fans at the Olympics,¡± Horigome said after winning Sunday¡¯s rain-shortened men¡¯s street skateboarding final, his first competitive appearance since winning Olympic gold in the same discipline. ¡°But we had so many people come today, and I was able to perform new tricks, and I think we were able to show the fun of skating.¡±
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