is a Japanese professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United Stat ...

and two-time Olympic champion. He won the gold medal in the inaugural Olympic men's street event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, becoming the first person to win gold in men's

street skateboarding Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas refe ...

at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. He defended his gold medal in the same event at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Early life

Horigome along with his two younger brothers were born in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, to taxi driver and former street skateboarder Ryota Horigome. Ryota Horigome exposed his son Yuto to skateboarding before he could walk. At the age of seven Horigome was already frequenting Tokyo's Murasaki Sport's Park, better known as "Amazing Square" Skate Park. Horigome spent hours here practicing his tricks and honing his skills. By age 12 he knew his dream was to be a professional skater and continued to train relentlessly, encouraged by his heroes Mike Carroll, Gino Iannucci,

Eric Koston Eric Koston (born April 29, 1975) is a Thai born American professional skateboarder and company owner. He has been featured in the ''Tony Hawk's'' video game series and the Electronic Arts (EA) video games ''Skate 2'' and ''Skate 3''. Koston c ...

, Guy Mariano, Shane O'Neill, and Paul Rodriguez.

Skateboarding career

Relocation

At age 14, Horigome began traveling to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for skating trips and eventually moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

at age 16, where he currently resides. Due to his travel schedule, he attended high school from a virtual online school. When in the United States, Horigome stays with friends, including pro skateboarder Micky Papa, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Horigome stays in the United States during the winter due to the cold season in Japan to continue practicing his tricks.

Early career

California's thriving and vibrant skate culture empowered Horigome to continue practicing and entering skate contests. Horigome finished 2nd place in the Wild in the Parks hosted by

Volcom Volcom was an American lifestyle brand that designed, marketed, and distributed boardsports-oriented products. Volcom is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. The brand was known for its trademark ''stone'' logo, its slogan ''True to This'', ...

and

The Berrics The Berrics is a private indoor skatepark owned by the professional skateboarders Steve Berra and Eric Koston. It is also a website providing content filmed in the skatepark, as well other skateboard-related media. The facility's name is a port ...

. One year later he competed in the Tampa Am Saturday qualifiers finishing in first place. Horigome began to make a name for himself, becoming renowned for his tricks involving rails and large gaps. While in Los Angeles, In 2015, Horigome filmed some skating parts alongside Canadian skateboarder Micky Papa, who was sponsored by

Blind Skateboards Blind (stylized as bLind) is an American skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco under the World Industries umbrella. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwin ...

. Horigome joined the Blind Skateboards team later that year and stayed with the team until January 2019. Horigome made his professional

Street League Skateboarding Street League Skateboarding (SLS) is an international skateboarding tournament series. The league features professional street skateboarders competing for the largest monetary prize in the history of skateboarding, and was founded by professiona ...

(SLS) debut in May 2017, at the championship in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Horigome came in third place for a bronze medal at the age of 18, as the youngest of the three medalists. One year later Horigome found himself once again on the podium in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

, this time winning gold in all three competitions and making history as the first Japanese athlete to win first place in an SLS championship. Horigome also found himself coming first place in the

Dew Tour The Dew Tour is an extreme sports circuit organized by Coalition 375 LLC, an alliance of elite action sports experts. History The tour was announced in late 2004, and made its debut in Louisville, KY in June 2005. The tour then made stops in ...

, in front of renowned skater Kelvin Hoefler, with his skate film still available online. In May 2019, Horigome joined April Skateboards, owned by pro skater Shane O'Neill. Later that same year Horigome further proved himself by winning two gold medals and a bronze at the

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

competitions in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. April continued to help Horigome in putting himself on the map coming out with a skate tape titled ''The Yuto Show!'', which showcased his skateboarding abilities in a 3 minute long video. Horigome finished 2019 by winning silver against three time reigning champ

Nyjah Huston Nyjah Imani Huston ( ; born November 30, 1994) is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world. Huston won gold medals at the SLS ...

at the

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

World Championship.

Approaching the Olympics

Approaching the

, Horigome ranked second in men's street on the

World Skate World Skate is the only governing body in the world for all sports performed on skating wheels. The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on 21 April 1924. Disciplines World Skate ser ...

(WS) World Skateboarding Olympic Rankings in June 2019, with 62,480 points. At that time, American

topped the men's street rankings with 67,080 points. As the 2020 Olympic Games were postponed for a year and the number of skateboarding events in 2020 was significantly reduced due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the WS Olympic Rankings for June 2021 included points earned from events in the 1 January–30 September 2019 season and the 1 October 2019 – 30 June 2021 season. In the 2021 Skate World Championship Horigome managed to take home the gold over

, but Horigome remained in second place, with 249,200 points, behind Huston's 269,900 points in the Olympic Rankings.

Tokyo Olympic Games and beyond

At the 2020 Olympic Games Horigome displayed one of the best performances of his career receiving 9.03, 9.30, 9.35 and an astounding 9.50 on his finishing

nollie In skateboarding, a nollie, short for "nose ollie", is an ollie executed at the front of the board while the rider is positioned in their natural stance. Professional skateboarders Karl Watson, Shuriken Shannon, Tuukka Korhonen, and Sean Malto ha ...

backside 270 totaling to a combined score of 37.18. Winning the first ever gold medal for Olympic Skateboarding in his hometown of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

solidified Horigome as one of the top skateboarders in the world. After the Olympics Horigome went on to win gold in X Games Chiba, which was the first

ever held in Japan. Since the X Games Chiba Horigome has gone on to win gold in two more X Games over rivals Braden Hoban and Nyjah Huston. Horigome continues to break records recently becoming the first Japanese skater to win the highly renowned

Tampa Pro (skateboard competition) The Skatepark of Tampa is a skatepark in Tampa, Florida, United States. It is considered one of the top skateboarding venues on the East Coast of the United States. The name is often abbreviated as ''SPoT'', and it is well known for its annual ''T ...

Sponsorships

As of August 2024, Horigome is sponsored by

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, and semiconductors. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969. Seiko is ...

Nike SB Nike Skateboarding, primarily known as Nike SB, is the Nike brand for its line of shoes, clothing, and equipment for skateboarding. Nike Skateboarding won the 2020 Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Home/Welcome Page in the category Web. His ...

, April Skateboards, Hardies Hardware, Venture,

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

Mixi is an online Japanese social networking service. It was founded in 1999 and is owned by Mixi, Inc. (). As of September 2012, Mixi had about 14 million monthly active users, with about 8.6 million of those on smartphones. Mixi, Inc. was founded ...

, Murasaki,

Rakuten is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around the online retail marketplace Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing Fintech, digital content and communi ...

Lipovitan , marketed in some English-speaking countries under the name Libogen and Livita, is an energy drink manufactured by Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. and its licensee Osotspa. Widely available in Asia, it retails in brown-colored translucent 100 ml ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

Supreme (brand) Supreme is an American clothing brand established in New York City in April 1994. The company focuses on streetwear, skateboarding, and hip hop fashion trends. In December 2020, the U.S.-based apparel and footwear company VF Corporation boug ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

. Horigome is often seen as the face of skateboarding in Japan helping to increase its popularity in his home country with the help of massive Japanese ecommerce and media company

even creating and competing in Japan's own Uprising Tokyo Street Skateboarding Competition. Japan's own watch company Seiko also came out with a limited edition watch in collaboration with Horigome. Nike has also come out with a

Nike Dunk Nike Dunk is a line of shoes released by Nike, Inc., Nike in 1985. Originally released as a basketball shoe, the popularity of the shoe among the skating community also led to the creation of a variant used for skateboarding. The shoe is offered ...

with a colorway customized by Horigome in honor of his home ward in Tokyo.

Honors

Horigome was named "Skater of the Year" at the Japan Action Sports Awards in 2017 and 2018.

Contest history

This list contains top pro tour, 5-star, and world championship events in which Horigome has participated; it is not an exhaustive list.

Videography

* 2017: ''For Days'' - Blind * 2019: ''April Skateboards Pro Part'' -

* 2021: ''The Yuto show !'' - April Skateboards * 2021: ''Spitfire'' - ''

Thrasher Thrashers are a New World group of passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genera. These do not form a clade but are a phe ...

'' * 2023: ''Yuto Horigome in Tokyo -''

* 2023: ''Turbo Green'' - April Skateboards * 2023: ''April'' - ''

References

External links

Yuto Horigome
at

SPoT Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot Coll ...

Yuto Horigome
at The Boardr * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horigome Yuto Living people 1999 births Japanese skateboarders People from Kōtō X Games competitors Skateboarders at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in skateboarding Olympic skateboarders for Japan Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Skateboarders at the 2024 Summer Olympics World Skateboarding Championship medalists 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Sportspeople from Tokyo