Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino believed that JR Francisco received unfair judging in the men’s park event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, causing the Filipino skateboarder to miss the podium on Monday.
Francisco finished in fourth place with a score of 83.58 at the QT Roller Sports Centre, following a strong second run. China’s Ye Chen secured the gold with an 84.41 on his second run, while Japan’s Yuro Nagahara and Kensuke Sasaoka claimed the silver and bronze medals with scores of 84.00 and 83.66, respectively.
Tolentino thought that Francisco had a better run than the Japanese skateboarder who ultimately won the bronze.
He stated, “We were deprived of the bronze,” expressing his disappointment.
The POC chief was present at the skateboarding competition, where nine-year-old Mazel Paris Alegado turned heads despite finishing seventh in the girls’ event.
Tolentino mentioned that Francisco was in second place after his second run, trailing the eventual gold medalist. He was surprised when the two Japanese competitors followed the Filipino. Sasaoka then scored an 83.66, displacing Francisco from the second position. Nagahara, whom Tolentino believed to be the superior skateboarder, achieved an 84.00 after scoring 76.01 on his second run.
In the blink of an eye, the Filipino skateboarder dropped from second to fourth place.
Tolentino remarked, “It’s fine that the silver medalist was better, but the bronze medalist from Japan shouldn’t have displaced Francisco from second place by just 0.8 points on the scorecards,” he added.
“We got boxed out.”
