[jwplayer HzGXTLnp]It’s common nowadays to see traditional athletes compete in video games with and against pro players, and now even figure skaters are getting in on the action. In a new video, Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno took on Smash pro Masaya ‘aMSa’ Chikamoto in Ultimate.
aMSa is primarily known for his skills in Melee where he is considered to be the undisputed best Yoshi player in the world. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t dabble into other games in the series, such as its latest entry, Ultimate.
In the August 16 video, aMSa did battle with Shoma Uno, a Japanese figure skater who took home silver in the 2018 Olympic Games. And while Uno may be graceful on the ice, in Smash he’s the opposite.
In the first match, the Smash veteran chose Fire Emblem’s Roy while Uno opted for the Star Fox antagonist Wolf. Hilariously, while aMSa dominated much of the first stock, racking up 86% in unanswered damage, the Roy player accidentally fell off the stage and couldn’t recover in time.
From there, aMSa turned up the heat (both literally and figuratively), preventing the skater from getting back to the stage and landed some nice fiery up specials.
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However, Uno wasn’t half bad himself, finding his rhythm, knowing when to back off, play defensively and even found some nice grab opportunities. In the end, the accidental death cost aMSa because Uno took game one with a back air to secure the final stock.
Game two was another close one, but this time, the Smash pro won it out in a last-hit-wins situation with a massive up air to close out the round. This trend continued going into the next two games, which really could have gone either way.
In games three and four, Uno opted to switch fighters, going with Palutena instead. The four game battle came to a close with both players winning two matches each. Not bad for a figure skater!
Uno isn’t the first athlete to get involved with Smash. Notably, NFL star Le’Veon Bell has a pretty good Megaman, has attended local tournaments and even co-hosted an online major with Team Liquid’s Hungrybox.
Now, if only Bell and Uno could square off in Smash. That would be something.
