South Korea's Kang Jun-i (Seoul Flare / Seoul Yeongdeungpo High School, Grade 3) finished fourth at the 2026 World Skateboarding Tour (WST) Rome Street World Cup, which concluded Sunday. After advancing to the final as the eighth-place semifinalist, Kang put together a strong run before narrowly missing the podium — falling to fourth after Japan's Sasaki Toa edged him out of third place by just 0.71 points in the best trick segment.
Kang drew praise from the local crowd with a strong run through the earlier rounds, finishing first in qualifying and second in the quarterfinals. After scraping through the semifinals in eighth place, he kept his composure in the final and posted a solid 83.37 points in his second run. In the best trick segment, he landed his first attempt cleanly for 84.33 points, but two failed attempts followed, leaving him with a combined score of 167.70 and a fourth-place finish.
Shin Ji-yul, a third-year student at Samnangjin Middle School in South Gyeongsang Province, burst onto the scene at last November's Kitakyushu Street World Cup in Japan and finished sixth overall at the Rome event. Shin advanced from qualifying in second place, then moved through the quarterfinals as the second-best performer among 16 competitors. In the semifinals, he posted the highest run score of 75.06 points and, despite a slight stumble in the best trick segment, beat China's Chu Qichenxi by 5.16 points to advance to the final in first place. World Skate, the international federation, named him performance of the night — "Performance of the night: Korea's Jiyul Shin." Shin carried that momentum into the final but finished sixth with a score of 126.89.
The delegation returned to South Korea through Incheon International Airport on Tuesday and is set to resume intensive training for the 20th Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after a brief rest.
Meanwhile, at the Roller Freestyle (Aggressive) World Cup held in Rome on June 19, South Korean athletes also shone. Yun Jong-hyeon won the men's event, while fellow competitor Kim Yeong-ung finished seventh. In the women's event, Jang Seo-a took second place.
The Korea Roller Sports Federation had originally planned to develop roller freestyle as a full competitive discipline from 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans. The federation has since reconstituted its committee this year and is preparing to grow the discipline in earnest.
Kim Gyeong-seok, president of the Korea Roller Sports Federation, traveled to Rome with the athletes and encouraged the team to "keep going with the same confidence and enjoy what you're doing." He also expressed hope that "the current momentum carries through to a strong showing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games."
tiger@heraldcorp.com
