From streets to stadiums: Little Fairy Rayssa Leal skateboarding for gold
Emmy Schouten
Rayssa Leal (16) is one of the biggest upcoming skateboarders. With multiple street skateboarding championships behind her name, Rayssa is looking for more. This is her journey to the Paris Olympics 2024.
Skateboarding in a tutu
Rayssa was born in Imperatriz, Brazil. She started skateboarding at age 6. A family friend gave her a skateboard for her birthday. There is no better birthday gift, right ;)? She began posting skateboarding videos on YouTube. Rayssa was doing amazing jumps on her skateboard. Wearing a tutu in these sick videos quickly caught the attention. She even got noticed by Tony Hawk! He reposted one of her videos on twitter with the caption “I don't know anything about it, but it's amazing: a fairytale-style heelflip in Brazil”. This tweet went instantly viral. The whole world knew who this Little Fairy was.
Early tournaments
She might seem innocent wearing a tutu, but her skateboarding skills are on another level. Rayssa entered the international skateboarding world. One of her first big competitions was in 2019. At 10 years old Rayssa took home bronze on the Street League Skateboarding Championship in London. With a near perfect score of 26.0. After her first big win, the prizes started stacking up. She won 2x gold and 2x silver in the Street League Skateboarding (SLS). Rayssa also won gold, silver and bronze on the World Skate Championships. She added a few national titles to her name and 2 gold X Games medals! Her prize cabinet is pretty stacked already. Skateboarding debuted on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Rayssa was the first female skateboarder ever to take home a silver Olympic medal. But this year, she is aiming for gold.
Shoes and scores
Her success goes on beyond titles. Rayssa made her legacy on the 2021 SLS. She needed a 8.3+ rating to win. In the last round of skateboarding tricks, Rayssa pulled off one of the sickest combo’s in SLS history. No women until that point ever managed to do a kickflip followed by hitting the handrail. This amazing combo was rewarded with an 8.5! In 2023 she set another SLS record. Rayssa was the first women ever to get a score of 9 in the tournament. All this success of the Fairy Skater is rewarded with amazing collaborations. She designed her own shoe with Nike SB. The Rayssa Leal SB Dunk Low is a colourful shoe with smileys and pink details. Very suitable for a Little Fairy.
More gold to come?
This year Rayssa is one of the favorites on the Olympic women street skateboarding. You can watch her hit the concrete on July 28th! Maybe even with a gold medal around her neck ;).
