After a season of dreams powered by self-belief street skater Gustavo Ribeiro looks ahead: “I still want more”  

Nothing in that moment could have broken Gustavo Ribeiro’s gaze.

Standing alone in front packed out Arena Carioca as the judges deliberated on his last trick in the 2022 Street League Skateboarding (SLS) Super Crown final, the 21-year-old Portuguese skater was focused solely on one thing only: the scoreboard.

Leading proceedings going into best-trick section thanks to back-to-back nine-club runs, Ribeiro had thrown everything into his last attempt.

When he landed a front nosegrind nollie flip out on the course’s biggest rail he instinctively pumped his fist into the air with a roar.

But in the moments after, none of those celebrations mattered. He needed a 9.2 to take the title, and his fate was now out of his hands.

A lifetime seemed to pass as the camera stayed on his waiting face. Then it happened. The number 9.3 flashed onto the screen. The skateboarder raised an arm into air in reaction before covering his face in disbelief. A cacophony of sound erupted from the Brazilian crowd.

The 2022 SLS Super Crown title was his.

“Without a doubt 2022 was very good,” Ribeiro says to Olympics.com reflecting back on the moment that capped an exceptional year.

In addition to sweeping SLS with a third place in Jacksonville and wins in Las Vegas and Rio, Ribeiro also scored a bronze at World Skate’s Olympic qualifying championships in Rome, thrusting him into third in the ranking race for Paris 2024.

“These were two very important competitions for me,” the skater from Almada reflected. “I have always watched SLS as a kid. Rome qualified me for one of the greatest championships ever, not only in the history of skateboarding, but also in the history of the sport.

“[It’s been] without a doubt, one of the best years for me. But I still want more.”

Gustavo Ribeiro: Taking inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo

Beneath his sunny disposition and radiant smile, it’s clear, as Ribeiro continues, a hunger to succeed burns within him. That, he insists, has been there for as long as he can remember.

Growing up in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, like most Portuguese athletes, Ribeiro says the famous footballer’s journey from humble beginnings to one of the greatest in a generation made a remarkable impression on him at an early age:

“I remember watching a documentary about Ronaldo and I remember watching that documentary a lot when I was a child and asking my mother if it was possible for someone had nothing, almost no house to live, no money, no opportunities, to become one of the best athletes in the world. It showed me that anything is really possible and that if believe in something, we will get it.

“Since I was kid, I started to believe in my mind that I would be the best the world. One day, I will be able to land all kinds of tricks like kids dream, but in such an intense way, that the results have come very fast. I believed so much, and worked so hard, that I think that is why all of this is happening to me very quickly.”

With his immense technical skill and his ability to deliver it consistently, there was always set to be a place for Ribeiro among street skating’s elite but the little time it has taken him to reach that destination has surprised many, including the skater himself.

It was only in 2017 that Ribeiro made his breakthrough in skating after he became the first Portuguese skateboarder ever to win Tampa AM, an industry event renowned for spotlighting future talent.

Following a string of impressive results at amateur events, Ribeiro then turned professional in 2019 finishing third in the Street League final in Brazil shortly after. Now, two years later as the winner of that event, the Portuguese skater has cemented his transition from one-to-watch from one-to-stop.

Gustavo Ribeiro: Strong mind strong results

Looking back at why this year in particular has seen him achieve so much, Ribeiro credits his success to the strength of his mental health, buoyed by his own innate sense of belief:

“I think that the longer our mindset is good, the better able we are to achieve our goals. Even if you train for years and years and years, if you do not have good mental health, you won’t be able to do what you want. Because, despite everything, our head is the one who controls the body.

“I think it helped me this year. I was trying to stay healthy, to keep myself happy despite going through some tough moments because I was in the United States away from my family. I know these small goals made me get to where I was able to finish this year.

“I would say to everyone, and I like to talk about it a lot, that if you have a dream, really do it and make it happen. There will be people in the middle of the journey who will say that it is not possible to do it. But if you really believe, I don’t think there’s anyone or a force that can tell you that you can’t.

“That’s why I talk about mental health, because this really controls us and our entire body. And if we take care of our mind, this thing called mind, I think we human beings, have the power to be able to bring about whatever we want.”

Gustavo Ribeiro: Begging to make it to Tokyo

If Ribeiro’s 2022 results aren’t enough to persuade of the impact his self-belief has on his skateboarding, then his hidden Tokyo 2020 struggle says it all.

Weeks before the Games in Japan, where skateboarding was due to make its Olympic debut, Ribeiro dislocated his shoulder competing. The injury not only forced him to skip the World championships but also cast doubt on an appearance in Tokyo.

“The story is funny because I was out for three weeks, and a week before going to the Olympic Games I had a trip to the hospital to see if the doctor would give me the green light.

“The doctor was worried, saying it was still very recent and that it was very dangerous. He was afraid I would get worse again and I remember kneeling down and asking the doctor to give me the go ahead. I said, ‘Please, everything will go well, I feel comfortable.’

“I wasn’t expecting him to say that. I wasn’t expecting anything. I thought it was just going to be a visit to the doctor, and him saying that everything was fine. But it turned out to be the other way around, saying that it wasn’t the way he wanted it to be.”

Thrown into turmoil, Ribeiro found himself treading between uncertainty and insecurity. And with the Games so close it pushed him to the edge:

“Two weeks before, a week before, everything was very stressful because I was saying to the media I was going to the Olympic Games and my goal was a medal, but in reality, I still wasn’t sure if I was able to go due to my injury; whether my body would let me go or not.

“I knew that I was hurt, but I knew it could be possible, even though it was difficult.”

After committing to a gruelling physiotherapy routine the skater was able to turn the ship around enough to convince the doctor to allow him to go to the Olympics:

“I didn’t have the best performance exactly because of my shoulder, but despite everything I was able to make the finals: I was able to make the first finals of the Olympic Games.”

Having gone through so much just to make it to Tokyo 2020, Ribeiro is already fired up just thinking about the next Olympics taking place in Paris:

“I know that in 2024 I will be able to take revenge on the results I had in 2020,” he says resolutely.

His passion to excel at the Olympics, so much so that he got on his knees to beg a doctor to allow him to go, comes from hours spent watching the Games as a child. Getting to represent Portugal on sport’s biggest stage remains for him, an immense point of pride:

“I remember, when I was a kid, at the age of 10, going to my grandmother's house, eating sandwiches and watching the Olympic Games, the long jump, swimming, all those sports. And I remember dreaming of one day skateboarding being there. But honestly, I never thought it would be possible. Never, ever. Because, you know, skateboarding was known as a sport of a vandaliser: that it is not a sport.

“But it is a sport like any other and I think we deserve the opportunities that other sports have. So, I remember, when I saw that it was coming to the Olympic Games and I was very happy, very, very happy. It was extraordinary.

“I knew that I now had the opportunity to represent my country at the Olympics and I am extremely proud of it. Knowing that it might be possible to get a medal and it would be a historic achievement because Portugal, unfortunately, does not have many medallists.

“I want very much to be one of them and I know it’s about to come. It hasn’t come yet. But one day, one day it will come.”

Gustavo Ribeiro: Only at the beginning

As 2022 winds down, it won’t be long before Ribeiro will be back on the competition scene.

The road to Paris 2024 continues for street skaters at the world championships in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates from 29 January to 5 February 2023 and the SLS Super Crown winner’s focus has already turned to that.

For Ribeiro, preparation for such events is nothing special. Everything that he does each day is all a part of the building process towards his ultimate, future goal:

“One of my biggest dreams right now is to be able to get Paris and get a a medal. All the difficulties I encounter I feel help my training for what is coming.

“This is just the beginning,” he says concluding on his season of dreams. “I hope that much more will come in my direction.”