A Trew golden girl: Cairns teen claims ‘insane’ first Olympic gold at just 14
Skateboarder Arisa Trew says it’s “insane” to be Australia’s youngest Olympic gold medallist.
Arisa Trew had to give it all or nothing in her final round. Photo: Getty
Aged 14 years and 86 days, Trew won the women’s park in Paris on Tuesday (local time) to eclipse Australia’s previous youngest medallist, swimmer Sandra Morgan.
Morgan was 14 years and 184 days old when she won gold in the women’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Trew is also the youngest medallist at the Paris Games.
“I got told by a few people that I’m Australia’s youngest gold medallist, which is, like, pretty insane,” she said.
“And really cool, because that’s, like, who I’m representing and, like, it’s just amazing.
“It’s just, like, super cool that I have won the gold medal because it has been like a dream.
“I’m just, like, so excited.”
Trew captured Australia’s 14th gold medal of the Paris Games with an audacious and daring final run that received the highest score of the competition.
Then on her third and final run, Trew pulled out a daring trick, performing a 540 – with 1½ rotations in midair – at La Concorde in central Paris.
The Cairns-born skater’s last bid for glory scored 93.18 to pip Japan’s Cocona Kiraki (92.63) and Great Britain’s Sky Brown (92.31).
Arisa Trew celebrates her historic gold medal. Photo: Getty
“My coach, Trev, he was just like, ‘you’ve just got to go all out’,” she told Channel Nine.
“I was just like, ‘yep, who cares? Just all or nothin’.
“I was just, like, thinking on my final run that I had to land it, no matter what.”
Fellow Australian skateboarder Ruby Trew, no relation to Arisa, failed to make the final.
Arisa Trew is the youngest on Australia’s team in Paris and the nation’s seventh-youngest Olympian in history.
It's Trew! Arisa takes gold, making her the youngest medallist at Paris 2024 at just 14 years old! 🛹
It's also the first medal for Australia in women's park! 🇦🇺#Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/9me6KcJLFz
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 6, 2024
Her gold-medal feats followed a shaky qualifying session when the Queensland teen qualified for the final ranked six of the eight skaters.
But her triumph continues an eye-catching stretch of form: She won Olympic qualifying events in Shanghai and Budapest to punch her ticket to Paris.
The victory for Trew, who started skateboarding seven years ago, follows her winning this year’s Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year.
Last year she became the first female skateboarder to successfully execute a 720 trick, which involves two full rotations, in a competition.
Australia’s youngest Olympian is rower Ian Johnston, who was aged 13 years and 75 days old when he competed in coxed fours at the 1960 Rome Games.
-AAP
