13-year-old Aussie skaters win gold medals at the X Games, and a 10-year-old Canadian claims silver
Arisa Trew
A pair of 13-year-old Australian skateboarding prodigies won their first gold medals at the X Games on Saturday, and a 10-year-old Canadian became the youngest medalist in the action sports event’s history.
Chloe Covell won the women’s street competition a few hours before Arisa Trew claimed the women’s vert title at the coastal Ventura County Fairgrounds. Trew had to land the first 720 by a woman in X Games competition to hold off 10-year-old Reese Nelson, who claimed silver to become the youngest medalist in the X Games’ 29 years of history.
Covell became the youngest winner in the X Games’ street skating discipline by beating a strong field including Olympic gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan and Brazilian star Leticia Bufoni. Covell already won a bronze medal in Chiba, Japan, and a silver medal in California last year in the X Games, becoming the youngest skater with two podium finishes in the competition’s history.
After another year of growth and improvement, she won gold in Ventura with an impressive final run that included a heel flip down a flight of stairs and a 50-50 kickflip.
Both Covell and Trew are from Australia’s Gold Coast region.
Nelson, who is from Calgary, captured the attention of Tony Hawk when she skated in an event with the world’s most famous vert skater earlier this summer in Salt Lake City. Hawk, who is on the X Games’ broadcast team, has since become a mentor and supporter of Nelson.
Trew also appeared in that event in Utah, where she landed the first 720 in competition by a woman. With women’s vert skating now back in the X Games after a 13-year hiatus, Trew repeated the feat in California to win gold.
Brazilian skater Gui Khury is still the youngest gold medalist in X Games history after winning the men’s best vert trick competition at 12 years old in 2021.
Covell started skating at 6 years old after seeing American star Nyjah Huston while she watched the X Games on television with her father, Luke, a former professional rugby player. She has shot to the top of the sport in the past two years, putting her in prime position to earn a spot in the Paris Olympics next year.
Japan’s Liz Akama won silver in women’s street in Ventura, and Nishiya took bronze after falling early in her final run.
U.S. Olympian Jagger Eaton won the men’s street competition at the X Games. GREG BEACHAM, VENTURA, MDT/AP
