Danny León and Naia Laso: Spanish skateboarding is covered in gold on the way to Paris 2024 | Paris 2024 Olympic Games

If all goes well in the coming months, skateboarding will once again be represented in Spain at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It will do so in the hands of two opposing figures: Danny León (29 years old, Madrid), a veteran of the discipline. in Spain, and Naia Laso (15 years old, Bermeo), one of the greatest promises on the state scene. Both achieved unprecedented victories this weekend during the final stage of the world circuit in Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The two gold medals represent a new high for Spanish skateboarding, which, without having much structure or more tradition than its proliferation in the streets since the 90s, has already managed to enter four athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Games. The victories of León and Laso at the Games The “park” modality during the closing of the World Skate Tour (WST) also represents the ticket for the final phase of the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament, which will take place in the coming months.

“It’s my first victory (in WST). And it was also my first final. I feel incredible,” celebrated León, one of the most recognizable faces and one of the lucky few who was able to dedicate himself to skateboarding full-time in Spain, even before the emergence of Olympic scholarships and sponsorships. “Right now, I’m in seventh heaven. I still don’t believe what’s happening. What just happened. And I think it’ll take me days and weeks to process it . But I’m super happy. “I have no words”, added the skater from Móstoles in statements collected by ‘Olympics.com‘.

León achieved his first victory on the world circuit with a score of 90.93 obtained in the first round of the final. The rest of the participants failed to cross the 90 mark and the Madrid native ended up winning ahead of the current world champion, the American Gavin Bottger, and the Dane Viktor Solmunde. Laso, who trains every afternoon after going to class, scored 93.46 in the final round of the event and beat the Japanese Hiraki Kokona, current world champion and Olympic vice-champion (91. 60), and Hasegawa Mizuho, ​​​​13 (88.91). . “I was super nervous and just wanted to finish the round. I was already happy with it,” admitted the Spanish skateboarding prodigy after coming close to perfection in the final.

The Basque skater, who started in the sport at the age of seven, began to excel very early in national competitions and, at the age of 12, she was proclaimed champion of Spain. At 14, she finished fifth in her first World Cup, and today she takes the final step towards the elite of the ramps with her victory in Dubai. “I had a lot of faith in Naia, I knew she was going to win. “He has the level,” celebrated León. “She didn’t believe it, but I’ve been watching how she skates, how she evolves, how she learns for a long time. We tell him a trick and he does it in less than ten attempts… And we knew he could be at the top,” concluded his teammate.

The final Olympic qualification phase will take place in two events in the cities of Shanghai (China, May 16-19) and Budapest (Hungary, June 20-23), with the participation of the 44 athletes with the best position in the WST Ranking by modality and gender, who will fight for the last 22 tickets to Paris 2024. The result in Dubai will count for the final ranking, representing a big advance in the options of León and Laso to confirm their presence at Paris 2024.

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