Skateboarding Street World championships 2022 in 2023: Rayssa Leal wins women's final
The Tokyo 2020 silver medallist defied a wrist injury sustained earlier in the week to clinch the title ahead of 12-year-old Australian Chloe Covell and Olympic gold medallist Nishiya Momiji at the skate street world championships in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Skateboarding
Rayssa Leal overcame an injury to her wrist to be crowned women's champion of the 2022 street skateboarding world championships in 2023 on Sunday (5 February).
Despite competing with heavy strapping on her right forearm following an injury sustained earlier in the week during practice the Brazilian Tokyo 2020 silver medallist was still able to flash her quality to beat the field.
"This win was super important because it awards points towards the Olympics, so that I can be well placed in the rankings," Leal said exclusively to Olympics.com after the medal ceremony.
"There's no better feeling. I drew a line of what I wanted to do (at the competition) to get my tricks right, and I'm very proud of what I did."
Speaking on her injury the teen said the support she was able to lean upon in order to ensure she was primed to deliver her best:
"I did what I had to do, but I tried not to think too much about my injured hand, even though it was bothering me. I have a team that is super ready for this. My physiotherapist and my psychologist helped me a lot. They're very prepared for that. So I'm really happy that even though I was kind of injured, I managed to do all my tricks and am taking the title home."
Coming in second and third behind Leal was 12-year-old Australian and Chloe Covell and Olympic champion Nishiya Momiji.
Both had superior run scores to the Brazilian but were pipped to the number one prize by Leal in the best trick section with her kickflip front side boardslide (85.04) and her top trick, a kickflip backside lipslide (87.22).
Speaking to Olympics.com after Covell reflected postiviely on her second-place: "I'm very excited and very grateful. I get to skate for my country and it means a lot to me.
"I was a little bit scared when I crossed out the first trick because I knew I needed to get at least two of my best tricks and I did that. I am very proud of the crook nollie flip that I did. I've been practising that all week."
This week’s street world championship was also a Paris 2024 qualifier event with Olympic World Skateboard Ranking (OWSR) awarded based on the final results.
The next stop for street skaters on the road to Paris 2024 will be Rome, Italy for a World Skateboarding Tour stop from 18-25 June.