X Games skateboarding: Final day features Tony Hawk, Mariah Duran, Arisa Trew and more

The past, present and future of skateboarding was on display on the third and final day of the X Games Sunday at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Tony Hawk, the sport’s 55-year-old legend, put down the ESPN broadcasting microphone and joined a stacked field for the final event of the X Games, the Men’s Skateboarding Vert Best Trick.

The skateboarding icon had been a draw for fans to the Ventura games since his arrival, signing autographs and posing for selfies.

The games were well underway when Hawk announced he'd pick up his board for competition. Veteran skater Mariah Duran, the master of the hardflip, used her bread and butter to add to her collection of gold medals.

And the glittering next wave of women’s skateboarding literally arrived on the final day of the games, as 15-year-old Brazilian Rayssa Leal and 14-year-old Japanese Cocona Hiraki — both Olympic silver medalists at Tokyo in 2021 — made their Ventura debuts in the Women’s Street Best Trick and Women’s Park, respectively.

But it was Arisa Trew who shined the brightest.

The 13-year-old Australian, who won gold Saturday in the Women’s Vert by becoming the first woman to land a 720 at the X Games, became the event's youngest double winner Sunday by winning Women’s Park, a competition set in a concrete-bowl course.

“I’m so shocked that I got two,” Trew said. “I’m just happy I landed my run.”

She said it took some time to figure out her winning run, but on the day of competition, it clicked.

“It’s really different and fun, but it was hard to get a line for the first few days. But I got it and now I really like the park,” Trew said.

Duran earned her first X Games gold medal in five years by winning the Women’s Skateboard Park Best Trick on Sunday morning. The hardflip is described by X Games as “the combination of a frontside pop shove-it and kickflip.”

“That’s kind of the trick that I’m like known for,” Duran said. “I was like ‘I might as well just try it’ … and see what happens. Made it happen.”

The gold was the first for the Albuquerque, New Mexico native since Sydney in 2018. She now has three golds, a silver and two bronze medals in her eight-year X Games career.

Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Yuto Horigome further solidified his position as perhaps the world’s top street skateboarder by winning the Men’s Skateboarding Street final with the two top scores. It was his fifth X Games gold and second of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Jose Torres delivered Argentina its first X Games gold medal by winning BMX Park.

When it came time for the final event of the weekend, Hawk was introduced last of the 10 competitors by announcer Brad Jay to a raucous applause.

“Our discipline of vert skating is back in the limelight, and X Games is highlighting it,” Hawk said after the event. “If you get a good ramp like this, I've got to jump on it.”

Gui Khiry, the Brazilian 41 years Hawks' junior, won the Men’s Skateboard Vert Best Trick competition.

Hawk, a 10-time Gold medalist, finished ninth after a seventh-place finish in the event in Japan earlier this year and fourth in 2021. His final attempt, as the crowd chanted his name, was the final bit of action of another X Games.

"This is how you shut it down," Jay's announcing partner, Jesse Fritsch, said to the crowd.

Joe Curley is a staff writer for the Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: X Games finale features Tony Hawk, Mariah Duran, Arisa Trew