Sneak peak at future Olympic medallists
The biggest stars showed up at OQS to battle for Olympic tickets. But just how high was the level of competition?
To put it in numbers – 23 out of the 36 medallists in BMX freestyle, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing at Paris 2024 also competed – and often stood on the podium – at the Olympic Qualifier Series.
This included all the male and female medallists in BMX freestyle: Deng Yawen, Perris Benegas, Natalya Diehm, Jose Torres Gil, Kieran Reilly, and Anthony Jeanjean.
France’s Jeanjean won both OQS events and picked up a bronze at his home Olympics.
In skateboarding, all Paris 2024 medallists competed at the OQS and all but two stood on the podium in one or both cities. Furthermore, all of the Olympic champions – Arisa Trew, Yoshizawa Coco, Keegan Palmer and Horigome Yuto – won at least one event.
Trew won the women’s park at OQS Shanghai a few days after turning 14, repeated that result in Budapest, and went on to become Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic champion when she stormed to gold in the French capital.
In sport climbing, Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo followed up on his first-place finish in the men’s speed event at OQS Shanghai and third place in Budapest with a gold medal at Paris 2024. Wu Peng of the People’s Republic of China came second to Leonardo in Shanghai, as he would later do on the Olympic stage, but beat him to win in Budapest.
USA’s Brooke Raboutou, who won women’s Boulder & Lead at both OQS events, went on to take silver at Paris 2024, while Poland’s Aleksandra Kalucka punched her ticket to Paris 2024 with a win in Budapest and later won an Olympic bronze medal.
The breaking competition featured an epic showdown between three Japanese B-Girls, who ended up sweeping the podium at both OQS stops. Just over a month after her victory in Budapest, B-Girl Ami became the first-ever Olympic champion in her sport.