Keegan Palmer

Keegan Palmer (born 12 March 2003) is an Australian goofy-footed professional skateboarder specialising in park skating. He turned professional at the age of 14.[2] As of 2021, Palmer is sponsored by Nike SB, Primitive, Oakley, Independent, Bones Wheels, Bronson Speed Co., Mob, and Boost Mobile.[3] Palmer is currently ranked #7 in the World Skate male park rankings.[4]

Keegan Palmer
Personal information
Born (2003-03-13) 13 March 2003
San Diego, California, US
OccupationProfessional skateboarder
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportSkateboarding
PositionGoofy footed
Rank7th (June 2021)[1]
Event(s)Park
ClubNew South Wales Institute of Sport
Turned pro2018
Medal record
Men's park skateboarding
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
2020 TokyoMen's park

In 2021, Palmer qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in the park skateboarding competition.[5] He went on to win the gold medal in the inaugural park skateboard competition.

Early life

Palmer was born in San Diego, California, United States, to Australian father, Chris Palmer, and South African mother, Cindy, on 12 March 2003. At a young age, he moved from San Diego to the Gold Coast, Queensland.[6] Although initially gaining an interest in surfing, Palmer made the transition to skateboarding at an early age.

Career

In 2017, Palmer won the Dew Tour Am Bowl Final at age 14.[7] Palmer made his debut in the Dew Tour in 2018, coming 7th in the finals. A year later, Palmer came 3rd in the 2019 Dew Tour finals, finishing behind Pedro Barros and Cory Juneau.[8] In the same year, Palmer came 4th in the Park Skateboarding World Championships in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2020, Palmer won the Skate Australia National Park Championships.[9] In 2021, Palmer qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. On August 5, 2021, Palmer won the gold medal in the men's park skateboarding event at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.[10]

Although locking in a gold medal 7.9 points ahead of his nearest rival, Palmer decided to do a victory lap. In the process, he improved his original score of 94.04 (from his first run) to 95.83 (on his third and final run), finishing 9.69 points ahead of his nearest opponent, Brazilian Pedro Barros.[11]

References
  1. "Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings – Park, Male". World Skate. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. "How Tony Hawk inspired Aussie skate prodigy". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  3. "Keegan Palmer from Australia AUS Bio and Photos". The Boardr. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  4. "Worldskate - Skateboarding & Roller Sports - Rankings". www.worldskate.org. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  5. Mercuri, Simona. "The List of Future Olympic Skateboarders is Official!!!". www.worldskate.org. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  6. "Aussie skateboarder Keegan Palmer still focused on Olympics". ESPN.com. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  7. "Keegan Palmer Wins Amateur Bowl at Dew Tour Long Beach 2017". Dew Tour. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  8. "Skate Results". Dew Tour. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  9. "Contest Results: Skate Australia National Park Championships - Open Male – Final". The Boardr. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  10. "Skateboarding - Final Results". olympics.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  11. "Australia equals best Olympic medal tally with quickfire canoe and skateboard golds". the Guardian. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.