Going to the Olympics is something that countless people try for years, or even their whole lifes. Just the experience of representing your country is something to be proud of, but just some of those who go to the Olympics, actually win a medal for their country. This is why when the International Olympic Committee announced that they were adding; baseball/softball, karate, skateboard, sports climbing and surfing to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it meant that more athletes will have the chance to become an Olympian. That was the case of 13 year old Jhulia Rayssa Mendes Leal from Brazil.
The name might not sound familiar at first, but you probably know her better as Rayssa Leal, or as “The Little Fairly of Skating”. Rayssa first went viral in 2015 when skateboard legend, Tony Hawk first retweeted a video of Rayssa doing a backflip while wearing a princess dress. But unlike most viral personalities, Rayssa kept on grinding and eventually found her way to multiple invitations on several skateboarding competitions. With medals achieved in the 2019 Street League Skateboarding Championships in London and in the Street League Skateboarding Championship in Los Angeles, at just 13 years old Rayssa has become one of the best skateboarders in the world, and with her recent silver medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics, this statement just keep getting strongest.
However, even with international fame, “The Little Fairly of Skating” still wants to remind everyone that she is still young and just getting started, “I don’t want to have too many responsibilities right now. I just want to be the lovely, lively little girl that I am for the whole Brazil,” said Leal after winning her silver medal in Tokyo.
Israel Lobo
journalist2@latincouver.ca
