Olympic Women’s Skateboarding Final: Teens Dominate the First-Ever Event

Teen skaters are coming in hot for skateboarding’s Olympic debut in Tokyo. At the women’s street skateboarding competition on Monday, the gold, silver, and bronze medals went home to two 13-year-olds and a 16-year-old, respectively.

13-year-old gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan made history with her win, becoming the fifth-youngest gold medalist in Olympic history. Brazilian silver medalist Rayssa Leal, who is also 13, may look familiar: In 2015, a Vine of her landing a heelflip while wearing a dress and fairy wings at 7 years old went viral, even catching the attention of Tony Hawk. According to ESPN, Nishiya and Leal have become their countries’ youngest ever medalists.

Japan has had a strong showing in the street skateboarding competitions, with Nishiya’s gold and 16-year-old Funa Nakayama’s bronze in the women’s category, and 22-year-old Yuto Horigome’s gold in the men’s category on Sunday. Nishiya told the press that she plans to compete in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, “and win.”

American professional skateboarder and seven-time X Games medalist Alexis Sablone finished in fourth place. Sablone, 34, said it felt “historic” to compete in the first-ever Olympic skateboarding competition for women, especially considering the decades of lesser visibility and legitimization for women in skateboarding.

“I think for so long the industry has really ignored females and given us no spotlight,” Sablone told Sports Illustrated. “You don’t see women on the covers of magazines, and sponsors aren’t paying women. So I think this has given the females in skateboarding a platform that can’t really be ignored. There’s a podium. Suddenly the industry will start paying attention. … I wish it hadn’t taken this to legitimize us, but it’s a step in that direction.”

And that direction means teenagers like Nishiya, Leal, and Nakayama dominating the sport at such an early and impressive age, edging out skaters like Sablone who have been competitively skating before they were even born. “Female skateboarders have reached critical mass,” continued Sablone. “There’s enough now that there will be prodigies. And they’re here.”

Fellow American Mariah Duran didn’t make the final, but had positive thoughts about the three teen girls leading the scoreboard. “It’s going to change the whole game,” Duran told ESPN. “This is like opening at least one door to, you know, many skaters who are having the conversations with their parents, who want to start skating… I’m not surprised if there’s probably already like 500 girls getting a board today.”

As reported by The New York Times, the youngest Olympic athlete competing in the 2020 Olympics is 12-year-old table tennis player Hend Zaza of Syria — but the next five youngest athletes are all female skateboarders. The newest guard of skateboarding is full of inspiring girl athletes who are normalized to the idea that they can break any barrier in sports, including the gender barrier.

“Girls can skateboard,” Nishiya told reporters.

“Now I can convince all my friends to skateboard everywhere with me,” Leal shared after winning her silver medal. “Skateboarding is for everyone.”

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue