Schaar wins silver giving U.S. best Olympic finish in men’s skateboard park

PARIS –  Tom Schaar (Malibu, California) and Tate Carew (San Diego, California) advanced to the final round of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 men’s skateboard park competition in second and fourth place respectively. The third team member, Gavin Bottger (Vista, California) just missed qualifying for finals by two spots rounding out the team with a tenth-place finish. Carew finished fifth after receiving 91.17 points for his second run.
Schaar used his second run to post a best-score total of 92.23. That was 1.12 points behind gold medalist Keegan Palmer of Australia, who won with his first-run score of 93.11 giving him a repeat gold after winning at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Augusto Akio of Brazil won the bronze medal, scoring 91.85 on his final run. In Schaar’s final run and last trick, Schaar attempted an Alley-oop 540 over the hip - a trick he landed in his previous run but fell short on speed trying it in the third run. 
Palmer and Schaar have grown up together, usually skating in the same spots weekly in southern California and always cheering each other and pushing each other and the sport. 
“Keegan has been pushing the sport to another level for the past couple of years,” Schaar said when asked what he likes about his competitor. “I’m very grateful for that because it’s making me keep up with him which is pretty much what I’ve been trying to do. I couldn’t be more happy to stand next to him on the podium.”
Palmer’s response to the same question: “We grew up skating together when he first came to Australia. He’s an amazing skateboarder, and it's an honor to watch him. I looked up to him growing up. To be able to stand on the podium with him and skate with him, it’s truly an honor. He’s one of the best skateboarders in the world and that's why he’s standing up here.”
Known for landing the first ever 1080 (three full revolutions) at the age of 12, Schaar was long overdue for this podium spotlight which also included being cheered on by skateboard legend Tony Hawk and Snoop Dog.
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