RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rayssa Leal was one of Brazil’s medal hopes in the women’s street skateboarding competition, the first of its kind at the Olympics. At just 13 years old, she did not disappoint, becoming the youngest Brazilian woman ever to win a medal at the Olympics.
The athlete from Maranhão won the bronze medal with a total score of 14.64. The podium was completed by Japan’s Momiji Nishya, who took gold, and Funa Nakayama with bronze.
Rayssa had already performed well in the qualification round, scoring a 5.05 on one trick, one of the highest scores of the round.
Brazil’s other two medal hopes were eliminated in the final round of the competition. The world number one, Pâmela Rosa, was the first Brazilian to go out on the track.
She was in the third heat, side by side with two Japanese, a French and a North A merican. Without hiding her nervousness, she missed three of her seven attempts. After failing in movements she normally masters without problems, she finished only eighth.
World Champion 2015, Leticia was more courageous and paid dearly in the end, with two faults.
Rayssa made history by advancing to third place; Leticia regretted a mistake that allowed her to improve her score and was eliminated with 10.91 after being surpassed by Zeng and Sablone in the heat.