Jericho “Kiko” Francisco Jr. is already looking past his fourth-place finish at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The veteran Filipino-American skateboarder says the near-miss has only fueled bigger plans ahead.

Francisco finished fourth in the Men’s Park Final with 84.41 points, just 1.62 points shy of bronze. Japan’s Shiji Gunji claimed bronze with 86.03, while Chinese Taipei’s Ku Yong-yan took silver with 87.33.

Japan’s Izuru Nagahara topped the podium with a gold-medal score of 88.96. Despite the tight margin, Francisco said the result barely dampened his mood on the course.

Francisco Finds Freedom After Years Of Pressure

Francisco entered the competition with just 10 hours of practice and almost no expectations. He said that mindset helped him skate looser than he had in years.

“I am beyond happy with my performance. I could not be any happier. Dude, I came into this with literally no expectations,” Francisco said.

He added that the pressure defining much of his career was finally absent in Aichi-Nagoya. “Everything I did out there on that course was something I wanted to do, and it felt amazing.”

Francisco said the freedom stood out most. “For the past 10 years, I’m always nervous and I’m always trying to do stuff I don’t want to do. And I really had a lot of free range competition. I had a lot of fun. Completely. No regrets.”

Francisco Turns Focus To Coaching, Bigger Dreams

Francisco’s Asian Games run carried extra weight through his connection to rising Filipino skateboarder Mazel Paris, one of his earliest students at First Class Skate.

“Mazel was actually one of my second students ever, and I’ve been a professional skateboard coach for the past four years now,” Francisco said.

Paris finished fifth in the Women’s Park Final with a best score of 80.65, coming within 2.21 points of bronze. Francisco called watching her compete a proud moment.

“To see that we are competing at the top level of skateboarding, it’s really incredible,” he said. Francisco has also coached fellow rising skater Elizabeth Amador.

With his Asian Games campaign behind him, Francisco is now shifting focus toward growing First Class Skate and mentoring the next wave of Filipino skateboarders.

“Something that’s next for me is to really elevate my business back home, which is a skateboard coaching business called First Class Skate,” he said.

“I really want to take kids all over the world to the next level just so they can compete at this type of stage,” Francisco added.

Francisco’s resume backs up his ambitions. He is a two-time SEA Games gold medalist, winning in 2019 in the Philippines and again in 2025 in Bangkok with a score of 90.68.

He also became the lone Filipino park skateboarder to reach the second phase of the 2024 Paris Olympic Qualification System, competing in Dubai and Budapest.