Trew Beauty!’ – Ruby Wins Skateboard Silver in Argentina

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete Ruby Trew has won silver and Keegan Palmer bronze at the San Juan Park World Skateboarding Tour in Argentina, earning valuable World Ranking points towards qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Fellow NSWIS athletes Poppy Olsen finished in 29th place, while Kieran Woolley finished 15th in the men’s event.

Fourteen-year-old Trew from Sydney’s Northern Beaches was the queen of consistency throughout the entire five-day competition, regularly featuring amongst the top-five skaters as she advanced through the rounds.

In the eight-skater final at Skatepark Pocito, Trew left her best run until last, scoring an impressive 86.16 on her third and final run to move into the silver medal position.

Trew said she was excited to stand on the dais amongst the world’s best female Park skaters.

“I’m excited to have put down a strong third run to get me the silver here in Argentina,” she said. “It was a tough few days as the competition in women’s park is so strong so you really have to be on your game.

“There’s a lot on the line with Olympic qualifying points so I’m happy that I am one step closer to making the team for Paris next year.”

Trew thanked her family for their support, admitting she has a bit of homework to catch up on.

“My family and I have put in a lot of work to get to this point and I am grateful for the support, not only here from my Dad, but also back home from Mum and my sisters.

“I am really looking forward to coming back home to Australia, doing a little bit of homework and preparing for the next event,” she said.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist from Great Britain, Sky Brown (90.84), won the women’s gold medal, with Brazil’s Raicca Oliveira (86.16) in bronze.

With less than 10 points separating all eight skaters in the women’s final, Australia’s Arisa Trew (no relation to Ruby) also had a great performance, placing 7th with a top score of 82.23.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion Keegan Palmer topped the men’s quarterfinal and was seeded second following the semifinal in Argentina.

However the 20-year-old came into the final under a cloud of injury, and could only complete one of his three runs to ensure he secured the valuable world ranking points. But the recent X-Games gold medalist made sure that if he could only do one run, he was going to make it count.

A huge score of 84.13 saw Palmer shoot into the top three skaters, where he remained for the rest of the competition. Brazil’s Luigi Cini (85.74) won gold with America’s Tom Schaar (84.51) in second.

“Stoked to have put down a strong run to get me the bronze here in Argentina,” Palmer said. “My knee copped it before the final so I just tried to lay down what I could and that first run was enough to get me the bronze.

“The competition is getting stronger as the year goes on and it was nice to be on the podium with Luigi and Tom.

“We still have a long way until Paris next year but nice to see some results the last few weeks and I’m enjoying myself which is key,” he said.

The Australian team once again proved what a dominant force they are in the Park standings, with Keefer Wilson (12th) and Kieran Woolley (15th) both making it into the men’s semifinals, and Ethan Copeland finishing 21st. Thirteen-year-old Phoenix Sinnerton placed 66th out of 99 skaters. Australia’s six female skaters all finished in the top half of the field in San Juan, with Charlotte Heath narrowly missing a spot in the final in 11th. Aaliyah Wilson placed 24th, Poppy Olsen 29th and Taniah Meyers 33rd.

Story courtesy of Skate Australia