Margie Didal booked her place in the final of the women’s street of the inaugural Olympic Skateboarding tournament held at the Ariake Park Skateboarding, Monday.
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games finished in seventh place after the four heats of the preliminaries with a score of 12.02. Japanese teenagers Nakayama Funa and Nishiya Momiji ended 1-2 for the host country with huge 15.77 and 15.40 score lines.
Didal started well with a 1.71 on her first run, but took it up a notch in her second run despite a slight stumble near the end. The strong run gave her a 2.77.
Nonetheless, it was in the Best Tricks section that the skateboard star pushed her scores up to even take the lead at one point.
After a solid first trick that saw her score a 3.01, Didal pulled off a gap to 50-50 along the shogun rail to grab a 3.02 to move up to pole position. Then Dutch bet Roos Zwetsloot snagged it with a 4.04 on her fourth trick.
Needing to stay within striking distance of the Dutch, with two heats and 10 skaters left, Didal pushed for a massive back 50-50. She ended it with a tre flip, which earned her 3.22 for her final score.
It was a nerve-wracking wait for her qualification as skaters Leticia Bufoni of Brazil, Alexis Sablone of USA, and Zeng Wenhui of China were down to their respective last tricks and Didal was still sitting in seventh spot.
With a 2.90 heading the Brazilian’s way for her last trick, the Filipino found herself in the first-ever Olympic final for women’s street.
Didal will shoot for a medal, with the final slated later today at 11:25 AM.
