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The excitement seems neverending at the Tokyo Olympics. The feats of strength! The glory of winning medals! Skateboarders creating whole new moves by taking out cameramen on their way out of the skateboarding course!
Granted that last one was an unfortunate accident, but it's certainly thrilled the internet after Australian skateboarder Kieran Woolley wiped out right into a cameraman.
Woolley, 17, was riding atop a rail at the end of his first run when he bashed headlong into the cameraman, sending him flying onto his back—without ever dropping the camera. See the moment below.
Australia's Kieran Woolley ending his run with the rare and difficult back side cameraman-bonk.pic.twitter.com/jxjQ35F4OC— Kevin Michie (@Kevin Michie) 1628126786
All due respect to Mr. Woolley, but the true feat here is the cameraman's camera coming through this unscathed. Give HIM a gold medal!
It all went down on Thursday at the men's park competition in Tokyo, the first Olympic games to include skateboarding in competition, in two styles: street and park, for both men and women. And given Woolley's mishap, it's unlikely the new event will be forgotten any time soon.
This was no simple stumble. Woolley bashed into the cameraman with enough force to send him hitting the pavement hard on his lower back, and to cause the announcers to erupt in concern into their microphones.
Thankfully, both the cameraman and Woolley seemed to take it in stride, sharing a fist bump when all was said and done, though the announcer couldn't help but speculate as to whether the cameraman had a broken tailbone.
On Twitter, the mishap drew no shortage of winces and laughs from Olympics fans.
THE FIST BUMP \n\nBest clip from Tokyo. Indisputable.— Asher (@Asher) 1628174789
The replay hahahahahahttps://twitter.com/kevinmichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— taras (@taras) 1628174447
I can't stop laughing at the camera POV https://twitter.com/KevinMichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— Michael Houston \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Michael Houston \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1628163384
i love the olympicshttps://twitter.com/kevinmichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— iana murray (@iana murray) 1628156254
That thumbs up https://twitter.com/KevinMichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— keewa (@keewa) 1628144220
now that\u2019s a dedicated camera operator. he may go down but still gets the shothttps://twitter.com/kevinmichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— Luke Lockett (@Luke Lockett) 1628137751
Australian skateboarder totally nails a cameraman at end of qualifying run & trick grind- Cameraman gets the shot, then falls & fistbumps skater. Skater gets great score from judges!\nOlympic level Awesomeness!https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2021/08/04/tokyo-olympics-skareboarder-kieran-woolley-crashes-into-cameraman/5493042001/\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\udd25\ud83e\udd8a\ud83d\udd25 CamstoneFaux, LLC. (@\ud83d\udd25\ud83e\udd8a\ud83d\udd25 CamstoneFaux, LLC.) 1628133092
Outstanding. Even better, Woolley appeared to be a good sport about it.https://twitter.com/KevinMichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— Chris Bumbaca (@Chris Bumbaca) 1628131377
https://twitter.com/kevinmichie/status/1423093004575850497\u00a0\u2026— Renato Alt (@Renato Alt) 1628131191
Despite the man-and-electronics pile-up, Woolley ended up with an 82.69 score for his run, putting him in the lead in the third preliminary competition and sending him directly to the first final for Olympic skateboarding.
Sadly, his journey ended there, with fellow Australian Keegan Palmer, Pedro Barros of Brazil, and the USA's Cory Juneau taking the gold, silver, and bronze spots, respectively. But it seems safe to assume he'll go down in Olympic history anyway!