“Ducks are really cute and I really wanted a pet duck,” Arisa Trew, the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal, told reporters.
Skateboarder Arisa Trew made history on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the youngest Australian to win a medal, and she will have something special waiting for her at home: a pet duck.
During a press conference after her victory, the 14-year-old said her parents promised her she could get a pet duck if she won a gold medal.
“Ducks are really cute and I really wanted a pet duck,” Trew told reporters when asked about her unconventional gift choice.
“My parents definitely wouldn’t let me get a dog or a cat because we are traveling so much right now,” Trew also told Australia’s Nine News. “But I feel like a duck might be a little bit easier, and… I don’t know, I just want a duck.”
Trew earned her gold medal in women’s park skateboarding on Tuesday after scoring a 93.18 on her final run, reports The Associated Press. Kokana Hiraki of Japan and Sky Brown of Great Britain won silver and bronze, respectively. Hiraki, 16, became Japan’s youngest medal winner during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she won bronze in the same event at 13.
“It feels amazing having the gold medal around my neck,” Trew told reporters. “It’s been my goal since watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. That inspired me and made me want to come to this Olympics and get to the podium, which is, like, amazing.”
Trew was born in Cairns, Queensland, and attends LVLUP, an academy on Australia’s Gold Coast where students can study and practice skateboarding. She won two gold medals at the 2023 X Games and two golds at the 2024 X Games.
This was Trew’s first trip to the Olympics and her parents Simon and Aiko Trew watched and cheered her on from the stands at La Concorde. They struggled to find the words to describe their feelings after Trew’s win.
“We can’t believe it. It’s crazy, crazy, absolutely crazy,” Simon told Nine News. “Yeah, it’s just don’t know what to say. It’s just somebody who loves skateboarding and having fun.”
Skateboard legend Tony Hawk congratulated Trew, Hiraki, Brown and the other skateboarding Olympians on Tuesday.
“Congratulations to @arisa_trew on her epic last run in women’s park finals this afternoon, landing her to a well-deserved gold medal,” Hawk wrote on Instagram. “Thanks to all of the competitors for pushing skateboarding into a new era of equality and inclusivity. And congrats to 🥈@cocona.hiraki & 🥉@skybrown.”