Kieran Woolley may have fallen short of his golden dream, but the Minnamurra teenager was the first to congratulate Australian teammate and Olympic champion Keegan Palmer.
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The 18-year-old was a class above his rivals in Thursday's skateboard park final, taking out the competition with a score of 95.83 ahead of Brazilian star Pedro Barros and American Cory Juneau.
Such was Palmer's dominance, Barros could only manage to register an 86.14.
Woolley entered the final as the second seed after an impressive heat showing, however he was not able to match his compatriot's arsenal of tricks.
That left the Queensland product to become the first man to win gold in the skateboard park competition at the Olympic Games.
Sitting fourth after two rounds, Woolley attempted one of the biggest tricks in his repertoire to start his final run, only to fall.
The 17-year-old ultimately finished fifth with a score of 82.04 after Brazil's Luiz Francisco produced an 83.14 with the last run of the competition.
While most of Woolley's family gathered at their Minnamurra home, father Mark watched the competition from hotel quarantine.
The pair have spent the past few months preparing in the US, with Mark returning home when Kieran travelled to Japan.
A proud dad, Mark said his son finished the competition with mixed emotions.
"He's really happy, but also disappointed he was so close to getting a medal," Mark said. "He only laid down his safe run, his next run has those few extra points to get him into the medals.
"By the same token, if you had asked either of us this morning if we'd be happy with fifth, we would've been stoked."
The result marks an incredible achievement for an athlete who was just 12 when skateboarding was added to the Tokyo Olympics schedule.
In the five years since, the youngster has dominated the domestic scene before stepping up into the international arena.
Success didn't come immediately, a 14-year-old Woolley finishing 31st at the 2018 World Championships.
It was a competition that brought a new mindset as he witnessed first hand what it takes to mix with the sport's elite.
For Mark, Thursday's performance was the result of three years of hard work and he's tipping even more improvement in the lead up to Paris.
"It's not even comparable from then to now," Woolley said. "I'd like to chase that footage, he's a completely different skateboarder. He's super passionate about skateboarding, he puts in a lot of hours and it's paying off.
"Three years is a long time for a young fella but I can only imagine he'll come out of this with new confidence. It's the first final he's made in international competition.
"To make the final at the Olympics and do as well as he did, it's a big confidence booster. I expect we'll see his skateboarding really take off."
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Cameron Mee
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
