It was a tense battle between the two emerging skateboarding talents as the 13-year-old Australian took on the 14-year-old Japanese skater at the Colle Oppio Park in the Italian capital.

Covell was well on course for victory after scoring 79.63 and 83.78 points in the opening two runs before performing brilliantly over the first three tricks, notching 85.53, 72.56 and 92.12.

Her total of 261.43 points put her in pole position only for Akama to leave her best until last, scoring 90.07 with her last trick to snatch the title.

Akama also notched 85.22, 80.96 and 79.36 points in the three previous tricks after registering 88.61 and 40.71 in the two runs to finish on 263.90.

Another Japanese star, reigning Olympic champion Momji Nishiya, got off to a good start only to slump to eighth position.

Brazil’s Rayssa Leal bounced back from a heavy fall to score 240.57 points but it was not enough for a medal as Japan’s Yumeka Oda completed the podium with 246.38 for the bronze medal.

The men’s title was won by 28-year-old American Nyjah Huston, who topped the standings with 276.51 points.

The six-time world champion backed up his opening run scores of 90.00 and 80.67 points by notching 92.55, 89.92 and 93.96 in three out of his five tricks to seal gold.

Japan’s Sora Shirai finished on 263.36 for silver, while Brazil’s Kelvin Hoefler produced the best scores over the two runs but had to settle for bronze with 259.28.