Naia Laso and Egoitz Bijueska have shone today at the skatepark located in Asunción's Olympic Park. The former has secured the ticket to compete in the final of the park discipline at the World Championship taking place in the Paraguayan city, while the latter has left the semi-final quite on track, although it was left unfinished due to rain.
In the men's category, the quarter-finals, which were supposed to be held yesterday, were resumed this morning due to weather conditions. Alain Kortabitarte, also a Basque Team scholarship holder, started in the first heat and admitted to making a mistake on one of his tricks. He eventually finished in 39th place with a score of 51.00, not enough to enter the top 16. Nevertheless, Kortabitarte told the Basque Team communication team in Paraguay that the result is good for a strong ranking position for the Los Angeles Games and to make the cut of 44 to continue the process. His sensations were good, and he only needs to polish some details.
Egoitz Bijueska, on the other hand, has had far fewer problems in qualifying for the next phase. The skater from Bilbao showcased all his talent in the quarter-finals from the first attempt, in his debut at this world championship. His first run was scored at 93.00, but the best was yet to come, as in the second he left the entire audience stunned with a 94.33. Egoitz advanced to the semi-finals as the best among all skaters, hoping that the rain would stop the competition so he could advance directly to the final.
However, this was not the case. In the afternoon, the men were able to continue competing, although only the first semi-final could be completed. During the second, in which Egoitz had already completed two runs, the rain reappeared and once again interrupted the competition, which has been postponed until tomorrow (18:35 in Euskadi). Nevertheless, the current World Champion had already achieved a score of 94.50 to leave his passage to the final well on track. Only the third attempt remains to be contested.
Regarding the women's field, any doubts Naia Laso may have had yesterday in the quarter-finals have been completely dispelled today. The skater from Bermeo skated like an angel from her first attempt in the semi-finals. Despite having a slightly sore wrist, she «landed» the run to secure a score of 78.01, which ultimately proved sufficient. Naia finished fifth, thus entering the top eight finalists who will compete for a medal tomorrow in Asunción. Naia already knows what it's like to be a world medalist, as she won bronze at the World Championship in Ostia in 2024.
