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‘I owe it to Australia’: Why gold medallist snubbed USA

‘I owe it to Australia’: Why gold medallist snubbed USA

The Olympic medal tally on Thursday morning read Team USA 27 gold medals, and Australia 18.

It could have just as easily read USA 28, Australia 17.

The reason it didn’t is a decision by the parents of Keegan Palmer to pack up and move their one-year-old son to the Gold Coast 20 years ago.

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Palmer defended his park skateboarding gold medal and remains the only man to ever win the event at an Olympics.

He was sporting the famous green and gold of Australia, despite being born in America and residing there now.

Gold medalist Keegan Palmer of Team Australia. Getty

Born in San Diego to an Australian-American father and a South African mother, the superstar skater was able to choose which country he represented on the world stage.

But when speaking to Nine’s Eddie McGuire on Thursday morning, it was clear there was never really any debate in Palmer’s mind.

“Honestly it’s where I learnt how to walk, talk, skate, surf, it’s where I learnt everything I know how to do,” Palmer said of Australia, where he lived until he was 14 and moved back to the states.

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“I feel like I owe it to Australia and the Gold Coast where I learnt how to skate. It just felt right for me, for sure.

“I’m beyond stoked to be able to bring it home for the green and gold.”

Palmer claimed Australia’s second gold in the space of 24 hours. Teen superstar Arisa Trew stunned the Games with her own win on Wednesday morning.

Palmer said Trew’s victory – as well as that of close friend Yuto Horigome last week – inspired him to the gold run.

A fortnight ago he had taken a photo of the Olympic gold medals and also used that to manifest the victory.

“Kind of been manifesting it since I saw Yuto win – I was like the stars are aligning, if Yuto just did it it looks like it’s my turn,” Palmer told Nine.

“And then Arisa yesterday, I was like ‘I’ve really got to do it now’. I can’t believe it.

“Look at the crowd – I don’t know how many people it was, but it was the most amount of people I’ve skated in front of in a long time.

“A lot of people can either crack or succeed in that moment. I’ve done a few things, talking to people, some breathing techniques to keep the heart rate down.

“Small stuff like that has been super beneficial for me.”

Palmer was congratulated by skate royalty Tony Hawk after the victory.

The pair will now work together on a mission to build the sport around the world.

“The thing I said in Tokyo is we want to try build skate parks in a lot of different places that don’t have skate parks,” Palmer said.

“So kids like me who grew up on the Gold Coast can have better skate parks, kids in third world countries can have skate parks, that’s always a big goal for us.

“We want to see the new generation take over – skateboarding is a sport where your body does fall apart over time, so you want to set up the kids for the future.”