Skateboarding is one of a few sports where very young competitors can compete with adults (gymnastics might be the ultimate example) and we’ve seen some young stars make names for themselves at a young age — Ryan Sheckler and Nyjah Huston both broke onto the skate scene before they even hit high school.
The newest sensation in the world of skateboarding is 9-year-old Ema Kawakami from Japan, who competed over the weekend at Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kawakami had the crowd going wild as well as Hawk himself and the legend Sal Masekela on commentary, when he hit not one, not two, but three 900s in succession in the men’s vert final.
in case yall wanted to see a 9 year old demon land three 900s back to back to back https://t.co/RV8GVLsdVT pic.twitter.com/aofBKI1uBC
— kai (@shatteredjaw) June 15, 2024
It’s an incredibly cool moment, and for Tony Hawk — the man who made history by landing the first 900 in competition at the X Games 15 years before Kawakami was even born — and the rest of the commentary crew to be having that much fun watching a 9-year-old make history is great. The Japanese youngster wasn’t done, though, as he went into the best trick competition later in the evening and hit and alley-oop 900 (spinning the opposite way he’s going) to send the crowd into a frenzy.
@xgames How did Ema Kawakami follow up back to back 900s at @Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert? With an Alley Oop 9 of course. We want to be him when we grow up. #skateboarding #actionsports