South Korean Skateboarder Kang Jun-i Wins Gold at Asian Games

By Kim Boram

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's 17-year-old skateboarder Kang Jun-i won the gold medal in the men's street event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, becoming the first South Korean to win an Asiad title in skateboarding.

Kang scored 180.85 points in the event's final at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, some 35 kilometers south of the main host city of Nagoya, Japan.

He edged out two Japanese skateboarders, Toa Sasaki and Ginwoo Onodera, who earned 172.35 and 168.11, respectively.

Skateboarding made its Asian Games debut in 2018.

Skateboarding involves riders performing tricks, with competitors judged on the difficulty, execution and originality of their tricks.

Athletes compete in two disciplines: street, where they perform tricks on a course featuring stairs, rails and other obstacles, and park, where they compete on a course with complex shapes and transitions.

In the run section, where skaters perform a series of tricks using obstacles on the course, Kang scored 88.45 points on his third attempt.

In the trick section, where skaters perform individual tricks to showcase their skills, Kang failed to complete his first two attempts but recorded 92.40 points on his third, bringing his total to 180.85 points.