Rayssa Leal
Images
undefined feature image
undefined feature image
undefined feature image
undefined feature image

Links

In full: Jhulia Rayssa Mendes Leal Born: January 4, 2008, Imperatriz, Maranhão, Brazil (age 16) Rayssa Leal (born January 4, 2008, Imperatriz, Maranhão, Brazil) is a professional skateboarder who won the silver medal in street skateboarding at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), becoming at age 13 one of the youngest medalists in the history of the Games and the youngest Olympic medalist from Brazil. Leal is the elder of two children born to Lilian Mendes and Haroldo Oliveira Leal. She began skateboarding at the age of six, when she was given a skateboard as a birthday gift. In 2015 a seven-year-old Leal was captured on video wearing a fairy princess costume while executing a heel flip down three steps. The video went viral, aided by skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, who shared it on social media. Leal subsequently earned the nickname “Fadinha do Skate” (Portuguese for “Skate Fairy”).