Four years ago, skateboarding made history with the IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) announcement of planning for its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Summer Games. Since then, skateboarding has completed its first Olympic qualifying season in 2019 (January through September 2019) and tallied points along the way. The qualifier competitions have opened the gates to skateboarders worldwide for their chance at representing their home country on the Olympic level, as well as a shot the podium.
This has created a situation where a slew of skateboarders that don’t normally compete are being given an opportunity to shine and are being recognized by a wider audience for their talent and skills. These new faces rub elbows with skateboard competition veterans and are proving their abilities are up to par with the best of them.
The Olympic qualifying season is on pause for the time being, and the Tokyo Summer Games rescheduled for 2021 due to COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, but until things resume, here are the top five women street skateboarders to keep an eye on during this upcoming season.
1.) Pamela Rosa (BRA)
Brazilian Pamela Rosa, currently ranked number one in the World Skateboarding Rankings. Out of the six qualifiers in the 2019 season, Rosa competed in four. Of the four, she took first place at three: SLS London, Dew Tour Long Beach, and SLS Sao Paulo.
2.) Rayssa Leal (BRA)
12-year-old Brazilian phenom Rayssa Leal took the skateboarding world by surprise with her incredible talent on a skateboard, possessing stylish rail abilities and fearless courage, as seen in her willingness to jump stair sets that are quite possibly taller than her. She is currently ranked second in World Skateboarding rankings.
3.) Aori Nishimura (JPN)
Aori Nishimura has made waves coming from Tokyo, Japan. She has a deep bag of rail tricks and isn’t afraid to use them. Nishimura had a rough start at the beginning of the 2019 season but gradually improved with each passing qualifier. Finishing her last two stops — ISO (International Skateboard Open) Henan and SLS Sao Paulo— with second and third place podiums, respectively. Nishimura is currently ranked third in World Skateboard Rankings.
4.) Leticia Bufoni (BRA)
One of the most recognizable names in skateboarding is no stranger to competitions and is the third Brazilian within the top five World Skateboard Rankings. Leticia Bufoni is currently sitting in fourth overall. Leticia has been ripping for more than a decade and has the experience under her belt that may prove to be quite useful in the upcoming season.
5.) Candy Jacobs (NED)
Candy Jacobs is representing her home country of the Netherlands. Jacobs first cut her teeth at Dew Tour Long back in 2018, where she took fourth place in the Women’s Street Finals. The following year, Jacobs went on to podium a third-place finish at the first Dew Tour Olympic skate qualifier in 2019.
Sound off in the comments below!