Skateboarding
Skateboarding
How Yuto Horigome went from outsider to street champion
Yuto Horigome's precise and spectacular tricks have already earned the skater Olympic gold twice, yet he still gets chased off Tokyo's streets. Read how he defied the odds to pursue his dreams.
Yuto Horigome's skateboarding career was never supposed to happen. Ryota Horigome, a taxi driver from northern Tokyo, promised his wife he would stop skateboarding after their wedding. In 1990s Japan, skaters were considered outsiders and troublemakers. Ryota vowed to quit the sport – but didn't. "My very first memory of skateboarding is my father putting me on his board when I was practically a baby," says Yuto, who was born in 1999.
01
An Olympic debut on home soil
Yuto Horigome is a two-time Olympic champion
© Nobuo Iseki/Red Bull Content Pool
On July 22, 2021, two days before the start of the Tokyo Games, he posted touching childhood photos of himself and Ryota. Skateboarding was making its Olympic debut – just a few kilometres from the park where he’d learned to skate with his father at the age of six. In Yuto's post, he can be seen as a 10-year-old doing an ollie over a friend of his father's who was lying on the ground. At 22, Japan's Prime Minister congratulated him on winning the gold medal on home soil.
This has given the sport's reputation in Japan a boost, but it still hasn't fully become part of everyday life. Although both men and women won gold at the Olympics, Yuto still sometimes gets chased away while street skating in Tokyo. Even when he mentions his medal: "I tried, but they didn't care."
02
Why he moved to the skate mecca of California
The USA has had a big impact on Yuto Horigome's skating
© Jonathan Mehring/Red Bull Content Pool
Because of experiences like these, Yuto knew as a teenager that he had to go to California if he wanted to make it big in skateboarding. He flew to the US for his first competitions with his mother, of all people. At 18, he moved to Los Angeles.
Despite initial successes, he realises how incredibly high the skating level is in the US, "that I need new tricks, new ideas to win contests." This also means taking more risks. "New tricks always come with a queasy feeling. Especially when I'm skating alone," says Yuto. His solution: "Skating with friends helps. If they're also working on something new, we can motivate each other."
The extroverted Californians warmly welcomed the shy Japanese skater: "Skate culture is very open. The transition was easy," says Horigome.
He developed his own style, with brutally difficult signature tricks like the nollie backside 270 noseslide 270 out: jumping off the nose of the board – 270-degree rotation – landing on the rail – sliding down the rail on the nose – another 270-degree rotation – landing. He owes his nickname ‘Yutornado’ to these many rotations.
03
Learning the ropes on the streets
Yuto Horigome went for a third Tampa Pro win in a row
© Jonathan Mehring/Red Bull Content Pool
Yuto experienced a special moment at a contest in Munich in 2017. "During my last attempt at a best trick, the entire audience stood up and cheered. I remember that moment – it gave me a lot of energy and confidence, even though I was so far from home."
Some fans might find it difficult to reconcile this statement with Yuto's contest performances – where he appears technically perfect, but rather emotionally reserved. "I'm just pretty nervous before a competition," Yuto explains. He's more relaxed skating on the streets of Tokyo, where he grew up. "There, I not only learned tricks, but also how to build real connections with people, deal with setbacks, and appreciate everything around me. That taught me to make my own decisions and take responsibility for them."
The respect Yuto enjoys, even among the hardcore skateboarding world, is evident at the Tampa Pro Contest. Here, the people who make up 'the scene' gather amongst themselves in a small, packed hall. Yuto won it in 2023 and 2024, and narrowly missed out on first place in April 2026, finishing second.
04
The double-edged sword of success
Yuto Horigome going for gold
© Kenji Haruta/World Skate
His first Olympic victory was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because, as one of three children of a taxi driver, he was suddenly earning a lot of money in his early 20s and hanging out with celebrities like Lil Wayne and Pharrell Williams. A curse because, while a dream had been fulfilled, it was also over. Yuto needed some time to find new motivation.
He only qualified for the next Olympic Games in Paris in the penultimate competition and with the very last trick. His subsequent second gold medal, however, showed that he was back on track.
05
Skating and hanging out at Red Bull Spot Check
Kicking it at a previous Red Bull Spot Check in Taipei
© Yves Hou/Red Bull Content Pool
Those lucky enough to catch Yuto skating on the streets are in for a treat. What's usually reserved for his closest friends or photographers will now be open to everyone at Red Bull Spot Check in Hamburg, taking place on August 1, 2026. Together with other pros and the local community, Yuto will spend a day at various spots around the city, skating and hanging out. "The format has an authentic street feel, where it's more about the flow. It's a framework in which I can skate more naturally. It would be great if everyone could experience the atmosphere and we could all have fun together." Sounds like a plan.
