Australian wonderkid Chloe Covell finally claims her first WST victory, while Japan's Sora Shirai makes the case for all-time greatness on a glorious evening in Rome.
As night falls on a spectacular Sunday in Rome, the World Skateboarding Tour’s 2025 season reached its crescendo in the long shadows of the Colosseum. WST World Cup Rome 2025 has seen a fortnight of insane skateboarding action go down here in Italy, first in Lido di Ostia for Park, and now in the city-centre Parco Colle Oppio for Street.
With upwards of 150 skateboarders from 45 nations registered to enter this second back-to-back contest of skateboarding’s two Olympic disciplines, Roman skateboarding fans were treated to a free extravaganza showcasing the global elite of youth culture’s most dynamic action sport.
Broadcasting live to the planet via World Skate TV, the Eternal city has taken its place in the pantheon of worldwide youth culture destinations with more visitors flying in each year just to witness the highest standard of skateboarding anywhere, first-hand.
Among the big surprises which the weekend produced was the absence for the first time on the World Skateboarding Tour of Brazilian superstar Rayssa Leal from a WST final, her expected place usurped by first-time finalist Spain’s Daniela Terol.
With Japan continuing to assert their domination of the Women’s division, it came as no surprise that fully 5 of the 8 finalists hailed from the land of the rising sun- and as ever, they collectively and individually continued to press hard on the boundaries of possibility with creativity and verve.
The standard of skateboarding set new heights with Australia's Chloe Covell shaking off a Paris Olympic campaign to forget with her first-ever WST victory after three full years of almost doing so, while Japan's Sora Shirai painted brushstrokes with two perfect 45-second runs and had already won with his first Best Trick.
Nonetheless, the entire Men's podium were separated by less than a single point.
The World Skateboarding Tour now heads to Washington DC for the World Championships in September.
