Nyjah Huston reacts on the podium at the X Games on July 22, 2018 in Minneapolis.
Nyjah Huston, who is one of the top contenders to be on the U.S. Olympic team when skateboarding makes its debut in Tokyo 2020, won his second X Games gold medal in a matter of months on Sunday in Sydney, Australia.
Competing in the street finals at the inaugural X Games Sydney, the 23-year-old from Davis, California, could have won the event on his first run alone with his series of high-scoring tricks but instead went out for a victory lap and scored even higher on his third and final run.
Huston scored 94.33 on his first run and 96.00 on his third, the two highest scores of the day. Kelvin Hoefler of Brazil finished second with a score of 92.66 and Australia’s Shane O’Neill was third with a score of 92.00.
Huston won his eighth X Games medal in men’s street, taking home the gold in Minneapolis in July.
Huston is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in men’s street and was the overall champion of the Street League Series in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017. He recently made a visit to the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where he got a taste of what life is like in an Athlete’s Village.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.