Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Sport
Roger Vaughan

Covell's bid for Olympic history ends in tears

Chloe Covell struggled in the medal round of the street skateboarding at the Paris Olympics. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Chloe Covell could not take a trick - nor land one.

The 14-year-old's bid for Australian Olympic history ended in tears on Sunday as her shot at the street skateboarding gold medal unravelled.

Covell did not land any of her five tricks in the medal round and finished last of the eight finalists.

She was in tears midway through the medal round and only spoke to the media briefly afterwards.

"I tried my best and I just couldn't land much. But it's all good," she said.

"I just wanted to keep trying and not give up.

Chloe Covell
Skateboarder Chloe Covell was aiming to become Australia's youngest Olympic gold medallist (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

"It was very hard work to get here ... I just have to come back better and stronger for the next time."

Japan's Coco Yoshizawa won the gold medal with her total score of 272.75, beating compatriot Liz Akama's 265.95.

Brazilian Rayssa Leal backed up her Tokyo Olympics silver medal with a bronze in Paris, scoring 253.37.

Covell only managed 70.33 from the first of her two runs in the medal round, before not scoring at all in her five tricks.

At 14 years and 170 days, Covell would have become Australia's youngest Olympic gold medallist had she won.

Sandra Morgan, who was 14 years old and 183 days when she was a member of the victorious 4x100m freestyle team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, remains the youngest.

Covell had also struggled early in Sunday morning's first round at the Concorde skate park, but rallied to qualify fourth-best.

There had been plenty of focus on Covell, given her shot at history in Paris.

The capacity crowd, which featured skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, tried to encourage Covell with raucous cheers as she kept falling - but to no avail.

Her father and coach, former rugby league player Luke Covell, was proud of Chloe for not giving up in the final.

"It's not always someone's day," he said.

"We knew if you wanted to go for a medal, that you just had to go for it.

"She did her best, it wasn't her day, I'm just glad she backed herself and didn't take the easy option."

Covell was wearing a finger splint on her left hand, but asked if that was a factor, her father said "definitely not".

He added it was no surprise that there were so many falls in the final.

"When you get to the Olympic final, no-one remembers who comes fourth," he said.

"All the girls were going for their best tricks."

The oldest competitor in the final was 19 and Yoshizawa is just 14.

Australians Liv Lovelace and Haylie Powell both missed out on spots in the final.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.