Nyjah Huston won his third straight Street League Skateboarding World Championship in São Paulo, edging Japan's Yuto Horigome with a final score of 36.9 points.
A late strike beyond the nine-point mark
The 24-year-old arrived carrying an ankle injury from August and limped through the semifinal, advancing in fifth place. He set a fierce pace in the final nonetheless, opening with two clean runs that included a 9.0-point effort.
Horigome then took control, posting four tricks above the nine-point mark and building a 36.6-point lead with two attempts left. Huston answered on the tall gap-out rail, landing a nollie heelflip backside lipslide fakie that earned 9.3 points.
A sixth world title, an Olympic path sharpened
The result marked his sixth career world championship crown and his 23rd overall SLS contest victory. He had set the all-time SLS scoring record of 37.6 points at the same event's Rio de Janeiro edition earlier that year.
The demanding concrete course, stacked with tall handrails and a twelve-stair set, pushed the final into what commentator Paul Zitzer called one of the best in SLS history. Huston won in London earlier in 2019, missed the podium in Los Angeles, and took X Games gold in Minneapolis.
"Three years in a row means so much to me," Huston told reporters afterwards. "The older I get, the more happy I am to be in the finals and out there with the young guys and still at a winning level."
With the Tokyo Olympics approaching, the performance tightened his grip on the points race and underlined his ability to deliver while carrying real physical cost.
