TOKYO, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Japan, which arguably boasts the best skateboarders in the world, gets to show them off to home crowds this week during a World Skateboarding Tour stop in Kitakyushu City in the western Fukuoka Prefecture.
Athletes from some 45 nations will vie for medals to be awarded by the World Skate organization. The tournament is considered a key performance indicator on the track to global skateboarding competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The sport will be inducted into the core Olympic program in Los Angeles, an upgrade from its status as a discretionary event in the two previous Summer Olympics.
Japan has racked up an impressive roster of skateboarding champions in recent years, including Yuto Horigome, winner of the Men's Street gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and at the Paris 2024 games.
Add to that standout teenager Coco Yoshizawa, who captured the Women's Street gold medal in Paris.
