TOKYO -- Had the first-ever Olympic skateboarding champion ridden his board out of the venue where he made history Sunday at the Tokyo Games, he quickly would have come face-to-face with clear evidence that his sport still has a way to go to winning hearts and minds.

"Skateboarding is still a minor sport," Horigome said.

And Kelvin Hoefler, who used to sleep with his board when he first fell in love with skating as a young boy, was so giddy with his Olympic silver that he started picturing kids back in his native Brazil perhaps putting aside their soccer balls and hopping onto four wheels instead.

"The goal is to progress each sport to the maximum and we can do that without having to bash or cheat," Puerto Rican skater Manny Santiago said.

Still, Huston talked up skating's Olympic debut as a win for skaters everywhere.

"Hopefully, yes, after this people will be more accepting to skateboarding in cities like Tokyo," Huston said.

His dad skated, and Horigome himself started as a 7-year-old, riding in a park 30 minutes drive from the future Olympic venue.

In front of her television, in a residence that overlooks the venue, 8-year-old Ayane Nakamura yelped as Horigome sealed gold with a final trick