Rayssa Leal Went From ‘Skateboarding Fairy’ to Olympic Silver Medalist

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Rayssa Leal Went From 'Skateboarding Fairy' to Olympic Silver Medalist

After winning silver on Monday at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Rayssa Leal’s name is on everyone’s lips.

The 13-year-old skateboarding prodigy has been practising her craft for years; she first gained widespread attention for her talents when a video of her skating while dressed as a fairy went viral.

Read about Olympic skateboarder Rayssa Leal and her rise to fame on the internet thanks to a particularly cute viral video.

Rayssa Leal Went From 'Skateboarding Fairy' to Olympic Silver Medalist

Rayssa Leal Went From ‘Skateboarding Fairy’ to Olympic Silver Medalist

In 2015, 7-year-old Leal got her big break when skateboarding icon Tony Hawk posted a video of her ripping around in a princess costume and it went viral.

In the year 2020, Leal commented on the popular video, saying, “When I turned six, my parents gave me a skateboard as a present, and I immediately took to cruising the neighbourhood on it.

The skateboard I had was too big for me, and my legs weren’t strong enough to keep up with the other kids when I started riding with my dad’s skateboarding pals on the street.

But I put in a lot of time practising, and now I’m past the point where I once had so much difficulty.”

Brazilian Prodigy Rayssa Leal has Her Olympic Fairytale Ending

As a result of a perfectly executed heelflip while wearing a bright blue fairy dress, Leal shot to fame and is now recognised as an Olympic silver medalist and skateboarding icon.

A silver medalist in the women’s street skateboarding competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Rayssa Leal drew widespread media attention.

NISHIYA Momiji of Japan, also 13 years old, edged out the Brazilian champion, Leal, with a score of 15.26 compared to Leal’s 14.64.

Both teenagers impressed the world with their unique approaches to skateboarding and their skill at the sport.

On the other hand, this wasn’t Leal’s first time making headlines.

The skateboarder, dressed as a fairy princess in a bright blue tutu, performed a heelflip down a flight of stairs, and the resulting video clip quickly went viral on social media. There were suddenly millions of people watching the video of Leal.

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk was among those who saw the clip and were so impressed by the young talent that he shared it on his own social media.

Conclusion

On Monday, Rayssa Leal, a 13-year-old from California, competed in the first-ever women’s street skateboarding event at the Tokyo Olympics and came away with the silver medal.

Leal won a bronze medal for Brazil alongside a group of other teenagers who also placed in the top three of the event at the Olympic Games for the first time.

Japanese athletes Momiji Nishiya, age 13, and Funa Nakayama, age 16, took first and third, respectively. Thanks for reading our article Rayssa Leal Went From ‘Skateboarding Fairy’ to Olympic Silver Medalist.

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