Action begun today at the Street League Skateboarding World Championships in Rio de Janeiro ©World Skate

Canada’s TJ Rogers and Belgium’s Lore Bruggeman topped the respective men’s and women’s global open qualification standings as action begun today at the Street League Skateboarding (SLS) World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. 

Skaters from five continents competed at the Arena Carioca One, a Rio 2016 Olympic venue, to try to earn either one of 20 available places in the men’s quarter-finals or one of 11 guaranteed spots in the women’s semi-finals.

Rogers prevailed with 8.36 points and was followed in the men’s standings by France’s Aurélien Giraud with 8.21 and, to the delight of the home crowd, Brazil’s Ivan Monteiro with 8.20.

A total of 8.00 points was enough for Bruggeman to head the women’s rankings ahead of Japan’s Kaya Isa with 7.80 and then The Netherlands’ Keet Oldenbeuving with 7.50.

The men’s quarter-finals are scheduled for tomorrow, while the women’s semi-finals are set for Saturday (January 12).

The SLS World Championships is the final step of the 2018 World Skate SLS Tour.

For the first time, only the top four skaters in the season's point standings have advanced straight to the final, leaving a further four open slots on offer.

Remaining athletes are fighting for these in a multi-round format featuring quarter and semi-finals.

Both the men's and women's finals, which will be broadcast live on worldskate.tv, are due to take place on Sunday (January 13).

Park and street skateboarding are scheduled to make their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020.