Tom Schaar won a silver medal in the Olympic park competition Wednesday behind Austraiian Keegan Palmer, who took his second gold in a row.
Schaar, 24, a skateboarder and San Dieguito Academy High alum, came closest to Palmer with a 92.23 score in his final run.
But Palmer set the pace early – no one was able to top his opening run of 93.11. Brazil’s Augusto Akio secured the bronze.
Tate Carew, also a local, finished fifth with a 91.17.
Schaar, the final skateboarding qualifier as he made his first Olympics, showed support for Keegan, despite coming in second, saying “we’re all cheering for each other.”
“I yelled at [Keegan] on his last run,” he told Olympics.com. “He had already won but I was like, ‘You better give them a show! It is supposed to be a camaraderie.”
Though this is Schaar’s first Olympic medal, he has won two bronze medals at the world championships.
He has logged a series of firsts in his sport, according to his Monster Energy bio, executing a 1080-degree spin on a skateboard and becoming the youngest X Games gold medalist after nailing the inaugural 1080 at the Asia X Games in Shanghai.
Tony Hawk, the skateboarding legend from North County who now lives in Encinitas, watched Schaar – along with cheerer-in-chief Snoop Dogg – and the rest of the field as they sought gold.
