There are two broad stratagems at play in Open Qualifiers: since the heats are based upon previous World Skateboarding Rankings, you could be forgiven for thinking that they are likely to remain static- which is to say, the previous best will top the leaderboard again, and the newcomers and developers may swap positions with one another but not necessarily threaten to bump better-established names out of the cut.

With 74 entrants here at WST Rome Park, the cut-off to make quarterfinals sitting at position 32 and each heat consisting of 12 or13 skateboarders, it could be surmised that everyone in the last 2 heats could be expected to progress to the next round, while the remaining heat’s-worth of positions between-say- 26 and 32 being where the battle to progress lay.

That being the case, the two stratagems are as follows: skateboarders in the first heats skate like they have nothing to lose, while better-established names who began the day within the cut-off top 32 need to do enough to remain there until tomorrow, but no more than that.

In the wide brushstrokes of the day, that is what happened: perhaps the most striking aspect of today’s competition was the re-emergence of composed veterans who seem to have emerged out the other sides of some patchy results: Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi strolled through without, as MC Stan Postmus noted, even seeming to break a sweat.

Likewise, her compatriot Hinano Kusaki had three runs any one of which was good enough for top ten. USA’s Bryce Wettstein did likewise, while her teammate Ruby Lilley had two runs north of 18 points clear of the cut. Brazil’s Dora Varella coasted through too: all five of those women looked composed, locked-in and at least semifinals-bound on today’s form.

Let’s stray from today’s safe bets for a moment to look at a couple of those who made heavier weather of today than might be expected: both final-heat contenders Mazel Paris and Asahi Kaihara needed the last of their three runs to keep themselves in the game for tomorrow- Asahi squeaking into the cut by 0.05 of a point with a complete run. She will need to find an extra gear to advance another day with that being the case.

Below her, and on the bubble position itself, was Brazil’s Fernanda Tonissi, who slammed on a backside tailslide around the deep-end corner- which was every bit as bad as it sounds- while trying to improve her position despite having already just qualified in as much as everybody skating after her was already through.

Some quick noteworthy performances before we get to the outlier stories of the day: Yi-Fan Lin from Chinese Taipei qualified in 4th despite only making it to semifinals once before on the WST. Above her in third is Japanese Tour debutante Hikari Satake- surely they couldn’t have found yet another party-wrecker?- while Finland’s Heili Sirvio, who has only made one Tour final so far at OQS Budapest- barged it in first.

So to the extra special stories of the day: Japan’s Misugu Okamoto, last seen being carried aloft in tears at the Tokyo Olympics, returned to the Tour after a five-year competitive hiatus to qualifiy within the top 20- welcome back, Misugu- while Australian 11-year old Mia Kretzer came home 16th in her first ever WST experience. Not making the cut but worthy of note regardless are Argentina’s Feli Al Zein, who could not make a run gel, but would have qualified easy-peasy had she done so- and is looking better every time we see her.

Lastly, we should big up Great Britain’s Olive Newman, who showed real poise and grit to come back from a Run 2 slam to stick her final run like she meant it.

The experience and self belief which should stem from that achievement will hold her in good stead going forward.

With all that pre-amble, here are your Open Qualification results from the Women’s division of WST Rome Park 2026.

Full video below!