WST Utsunomiya 2026: The Gyoza Capital Hosts Olympic Qualifier LA28—What Time Is It in France?

Why does a world cup that matters for Los Angeles 2028 land in the city of 200 gyoza restaurants? From November 16 to 23, 2026, Utsunomiya, with more than 500,000 inhabitants north of Tokyo receives this street stage of the Olympic circuit, and part of the bill is paid by tax donations from a company. In the list of possible participants, Yuto Horigome, double Olympic champion, doesn’t even have a reserved place. And the finals fall at an hour that France knows poorly.

Ichigo, 200 restos de gyoza et un skatepark monté pour huit jours

The gyoza is Utsunomiya’s identity. The official contest site reminds us of that, before bragging about the city’s jazz and cocktail bars. Skateboarding arrives here for the first time: the World Skateboarding Tour had never set up its modules in Tochigi Prefecture.

Money, now. The city co‑hosts the stage with World Skate. And according to the organizer, part of the costs is covered by the furusato nozei paid by the real‑estate group Ichigo. The Arctown Utsunomiya park already has a covered skatepark, but per the bulletin no. 1 from World Skate, a temporary street course will be built for the competition.

16e mondial : pourquoi Horigome n’a pas sa place garantie

The World Skate bulletin lists the top 30 of the September WSR ranking. On the men’s side, Sora Shirai is number one, ahead of Toa Sasaki and Kairi Netsuke. The top eight skip the Open Qualifier and go straight to the quarters. Yuto Horigome, however, sits at 16th place, with a star: he is only seventh Japanese or lower.

Concretely, the double Olympic champion has no place for the title ranking. He needs a withdrawal in the Japanese camp, or one of the three places each federation can inscribe itself. Registrations close on November 3 at 23 h 59, Paris time. Until then, no entry list is official, and each athlete pays $200 to enter, head-to-head.

The format fits into four stages. Qualifiers and quarters: two runs of 45 seconds, only the best counts. Semi-finals at 16: two runs and three best tricks. Finals at 8: three runs, three best tricks, and you add up the best of each.

Shirai, Leal, Yoshizawa, Berguin: five names to watch in Arctown

These five are in the top 30 which can confirm his presence. Nothing is signed before November 3.

• Sora ShiraiN°1 WSR

  Japan. Fourth at Paris 2024, one medal spot, he leads the September world ranking

• Yuto Horigome16e WSR

  Japan. Olympic champion in street Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, yet without a guaranteed spot in Utsunomiya

• Rayssa Leal8e WSR

  Brazil. Silver at Tokyo 2020, bronze at Paris 2024, two world titles in street. Head-to-head

• Coco Yoshizawa6e WSR

  Japan. Olympic champion in street Paris 2024. Head-to-head

• Max Berguin10e WSR

  France. Best French on the ranking, two spots behind the head-to-head

In the women’s category, number one is called Ibuki Matsumoto, opposite of Chloe Covell. On the French side, Lucie Schoonheere was 15th. Berguin, we had seen him sign the tricolor double at Taranto in September.

Monday November 23, 4 a.m.: the schedule in Paris time

Here’s the answer. Japan is eight hours ahead of France in November. The Monday November 23 finals, a public holiday in Japan, run between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. in Paris. The times below come from the official organizer’s page; they’re listed as « around » and heat details haven’t been released yet.

• Mon. Nov. 16 – Wed. Nov. 18Training

  No competition. Technical meeting on the 17th.

• Thu. Nov. 19Women’s qualifiers

  Times not yet released.

• Fri. Nov. 20Men’s qualifiers

  Times not yet released.

• Sat. Nov. 21Quarters

  From 1 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Paris (9 a.m.–7 p.m. in Utsunomiya). 40 riders per gender, including seeds.

• Sun. Nov. 22Semis

  From 5 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Paris (1 p.m.–6:30 p.m. in Utsunomiya). 16 riders per gender.

• Mon. Nov. 23Finals

  From 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. in Paris (12 p.m.–3 p.m. in Utsunomiya). 8 riders per gender.

In short: a super early wake‑up on Monday, or catch the replay at the café. The order of women then men in the final isn’t confirmed for 2026.

Tickets are 1,500 yen and a tram drops you in front of the course

Tickets sell on eplus from October 17, only for the last three days. On finals day, a 2,000‑yen free‑entry ticket is available, 4,000 yen at the center, near the course. The front row at 5,000 yen is already sold out. A « course walk » option at 3,000 yen lets you cruise the modules for about twenty minutes after the last event.

To get there, Tokyo‑Utsunomiya takes about an hour on the Shinkansen. Then the Light Rail tram, opened in August 2023, drops you in 13 minutes at Hiraishi stop, directly connected to the park.

Where to watch from France

On October 25, the organizer announced no broadcaster for Utsunomiya. Two official channels to keep an eye on: WST Japan on YouTube, linked from the contest site, and World Skate, which posted the full finals of the 2025 Kitakyushu Japanese leg. Registrants should be confirmed after November 3.

Before the 23rd wake-up, re-read how Horigome grabbed two consecutive Olympic titles, and keep his rider profile handy, along with Rayssa Leal. Japan is still in the running after the Asian Games in September.

If you want to follow the whole circuit, we cover the big skate contests on nosk8.com.

Horigome without a guaranteed spot in Utsunomiya: should the Japanese federation give him one of its three spots? Drop a comment ↓