TOKYO — Just minutes after the first skateboard competition in Olympic history concluded, the icon with tattoos covering more of his body than water covers earth, the celebrity with 4.75 million Instagram followers, the athlete who awes other elite athletes, remained atop his board. He answered questions while balanced on four wheels, like that made him the most comfortable. Like he needed that comfort to process what had just happened, what he had flown across the world for, what everyone with a cursory interest in his sport expected him to win.
Nyjah Huston leaned forward and grabbed onto a metal railing in the mixed zone, looking neither despondent nor particularly thrilled.