Rayssa Leal takes Santiago 2023 women's street gold in skateboarding's first ever Pan American Games contest
Leal and Pamela Rosa made it a Brazil one-two with Team USA's Paige Heyn completing the first Pan American Games skateboarding podium.
Skateboarding
Brazil dominated the women’s street skateboarding final at the 2023 Pan American Games with Rayssa Leal taking gold on Saturday (21 October).
Teammate Pamela Rosa won silver with Team USA’s Paige Heyn rounding out the podium in third.
Olympic silver medallist Leal eased her way to victory in front of bleachers packed with Brazilian fans standing in front of a life-sized poster of her face they had set up as their backdrop.
It's the first time a skateboard contest has been held at the Pan American Games.
The competition format consisted of two run attempts from each athlete, where they had 45 seconds to string together tricks and build a score. The top score for each skater is counted towards the final before they move to the single trick section.
In the single trick section, each athlete has five attempts. The top two of five scores are combined with the run attempt for a total score which determines rank.
The judging is similar to artistic gymnastics in the way that it is scored subjectively based on execution, degree of difficulty, variety, originality, and style.
Leal’s first run was the highest of the day with a 76.03 ahead of Rosa’s 73.17.
She also had the highest-scoring trick of the competition - an 84.23 - with Rosa's best a 77.44.
Speaking to Olympics.com via a translator, Leal said of her gold, "I think it's very important, of course, because it brings more confidence to us Brazilians.
"In fact, confidence comes from training. Of course, we are happy with the result, but confidence comes from training and comes from dedication."
Rosa, a two-time world champion and six-time X-Games medalist, had a solid competition but finished over 25 points behind her compatriot.
Heyn, the youngest member of the USA’s 631-athlete team, took one of her country's first medals the morning after the Opening Ceremony despite only landing one of her five trick attempts as she would have liked.
“I’m so stoked to be on the podium with these amazing girls, they killed it,” she told Olympics.com after her performance.
Heyn said she was excited to be skating alongside some of the world's best and hopes to make it to the Paris 2024 Games to meet them again.
Rayssa Leal was all smiles after winning the street skateboarding title at the 2023 Pan American Games
Pan American Games 2023 Women's Street Skateboarding - Final results
1. Rayssa Leal (BRA) - 236.98
2. Pamela Rosa (BRA) - 211.34
3. Paige Heyn (USA) - 176.35
4. Jazmin Alvarez (COL) - 164.12
5. Julieta Gonzalez (URU) - 144.25
6. Valentina Petric (CHI) - 120.55
7. Aldana Bertran (ARG) - 102.49
8. Vianez Morales (PUR) - 102.36
9. Samanta Secours (CAN) - 63.26
History of Skateboarding at the Pan American Games
Skateboarding is making its Pan American Games debut in Santiago this week.
After the sport’s inaugural Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, it has been appearing in multi-sport games across the world and will return to the big stage in Paris.
The men’s and women’s street final take place on the 21 October near the Estadio Nacional in Santiago and are followed by the men’s and women’s park final on the 22 October.