Teen history-maker Arisa Trew ready to show the world she can shred: Welcome to my whirlwind ride
Popping out of the bowl the beaming smile on **Arisa Trew’**s face was unmistakable.
The 14-year-old, competing in the last skateboarding Olympic qualifier on a sunny Budapest day, had just put down the final’s heaviest run.
Stitching together a backside 360 with 540 in the deep end to start the 45 seconds, Trew then peaked with a monster body varial 540 on the vert wall before finessing out the rest of her line.
The joy emanating from Trew after suggested she knew it was commanding, and when a 93.38 score flashed onto the screen her assumptions were proved correct. The teen soared into first place where she remained for the rest of the contest.
It was her second Olympic Qualifier Series win in 35 days having topped the podium in Shanghai in May.
The sight of Trew shredding around a bowl, grinding ledges, skating switch and finding big air, has become a familiar one on the Olympic skateboarding scene.
Since her arrival on the circuit 18 months ago at the world championships in the United Arab Emirates, it’s been hard not to spot the young Aussie in action.
Always supporting a hot pink helmet with matching hot pink knee pads and complementary black and pink chequered socks, Trew is immediately identifiable in the bowl and out of it.
But it is not just for her look that she has been garnering the attention of skate fans across the world; Trew has also been leading the vanguard of women’s skateboarding.
In 2023, Trew made history by becoming the first female athlete to land a 720 in at a vert competition in the United States.
The trick - which includes two mid-air rotations - was first landed by Tony Hawk back in 1985. Incidentally, it was at Hawk’s contest that Trew matched the feat, and the legendary skater didn’t hold his praise back when he reflected on the record-breaking moment.
“When I saw Arisa start trying 720s and getting close to making her first one ever, I identified with it greatly”. Hawk said in an interview with Laureus for Olympics.com back in May. “I learned that trick in 1985 on my own on a ramp in Sweden with two people watching me. But I felt the same drive. I felt the same passion that I wanted to get this thing done; just for me personally. And you could see that in her eyes.”
The historic moment landed Trew a nomination for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year nomination, which the teen went on to win ahead of Caroline Marks, Kirsten Neuschäfer, Bethany Shriever, Filipe Toledo and fellow skater Rayssa Leal.
However, Trew, now known among sport’s elite, didn’t stop there.
Honing that drive Hawk saw in her, Trew made another historic breakthrough this year, becoming the first female skater ever to land a 900 (two and a half rotations).
“A dream come true!” Trew wrote in the caption as she shared the video of her 900 on the vert ramp, sharing her own joy at having recorded another moment of magic.
Arisa Trew (centre) with Sky Brown (left) and Hiraki Kokona (right) celebrate on the podium after OQS Budapest
The last two years have been a whirlwind ride for Trew who only took up skateboarding seven years ago to help pass the winter months when it felt too cold to surf.
But it won’t stop just yet. Given her already immeasurable impact on women’s skateboarding, and her back-to-back OQS victories, Trew is now a favourite to excel in the women’s park event in Paris.
The contest, set to get underway on Tuesday 6 August, will be well studied for its uniquely positive atmosphere and the talent poised to go head-to-head.
There will be the Olympic medal incumbents, Yosozumi Sakura, Hiraki Cocona and Sky Brown, who have continued to be at the forefront of women’s park, and then there are the rising stars including Brazil’s Raicca Ventura, Spaniard Naia Laso and Kusaki Hinano of Japan.
Given the Australian’s late winning surge, which now sees her sit second in the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings ahead of the Games, momentum, which Trew understands all too well, is undoubtedly with her.
Throw in the spectacle of the occasion and the size of the sporting stage it’s hard to imagine that the woman currently sending progression in skateboarding on overdrive won’t be looking to seize the moment with the world watching.