I feel so proud of those women who showed the world their passion for sports. Those females have taken their interests to new heights and played an integral role in the rise of the skateboarding trends for females.
At the advent of skateboarding in the 1940s, females were not so familiar with skateboards. skateboarding remained popular among men for almost a decade until the 1960s when the first women skateboarding competition was held at a big level. Even when there were barriers, women in skateboarding didn’t lose hope and continued to struggle for equal rights. You might be curious about the journey of those female skateboarders. Let us discover the best female skateboarders of all time and uncover the history of women in skateboarding.
Best Female Skateboarders
To be called the best women skateboarder would be a little unjust, owing to several styles, experiences, and challenges of skateboarding. Therefore, generally, we decide on how much the girl skateboarder has earned in her lifetime achievements. Here I have listed down the female skateboarders who paved the way for females in skateboarding. Let us start with my favorite Patti McGee.
1. Patti McGee
Skateboarding owes a lot to Patti McGee for opening its doors to females. The first-ever female professional skateboarder started her career in the 1960s. Patti McGee was the first female skateboarder to be ever featured on the front page of Life Magazine in 1965.
In addition, there are many awards in the list of Patti McGee’s achievements. She was the first female skateboarder to win the National Skateboarding Championship. Leading the path of female sports, she was also featured on the Skateboarder Magazine’s cover page.
Born in Southern California, Patti started skating during the era of its prominence in the 1960s and became a pro at 19 years of age. The skateboarding Hall of Fame inducted Patti as their first female skateboarder.
2. Peggy Oki
Peggy was inclined toward skateboarding even before it was well-known to people. Peggy Oki removed the barriers to skateboarding for women. What a marvelous skateboarder she is with many other capabilities. The first one to join Z-Boys emerged her to be a skateboarding icon for females.
The Z-Boys attachment gave Peggy a boy-style touch to her skateboarding. One of the judges remarked her to be better than boys. Peggy kept pushing herself to be a different freestyle skater than a conventional skater.
She was a driving force behind the development of skateboarding into what it is now. Peggy had brought a huge difference in the freestyle skateboarding practices as a female.
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3. Cara-Beth Burnside
The girl who earned a name in the skateboarding world, Cara-Beth stood in 4th place in the Olympics. She won over sixteen titles in prominent competitions. Skateboarding was her passion from the age of 10 years. Cara-Beth participated in competitions against men.
She is a superhero of skateboarding. She had won a gold medal in the X Games. Her lifetime framework has a lot of achievements including the first female to get coverage in Thrasher magazine, and the first signature shoe model of her own.
She turned her attention towards snowboarding and soon earned a good name in that field too. She was featured in so many films. I would say she was among the best snowboarders of all ages.
4. Elissa Steamer
The legend has a prominent name in promoting skateboarding for females. She won five gold medals in a row and played roles in movies. A 14 year of age girl, skating her way through this huge world and paved the way for other girls to participate in this field.
The steamer did her first film in 2016 as a sponsored athlete. She won her first Gold Medal in 2004 at the street event Summer X Games. The streak continued for the next five years consecutively. She has had her 6th Gold Medal but this time, she won a Silver Medal in 2007. She also got a Bronze Medal in 2009.
This is an extreme case of admiration not only for girls but for all skaters around the world. She not only pursued her passion but also craved a victorious history.
5. Leticia Bufoni
Bufoni is a guiding force for everyone to step into a skateboarding career. She started at a very young age and readily reached a prominent position. She has a big hand in promoting street skating and bringing sponsors such as Nike SB to the X-Games.
She became a competent skateboarder at a very young age. She started in her teens and earned the name of the first girl skateboarder to have the most medals in skating. She has won five Gold Medals, 3 Silver, and 3 Bronze medals. She won a Gold Medal in World Skateboarding. Championship as well.
Bufoni is undoubtedly a great source of inspiration for girls and gives a lesson about the untiring struggle to achieve a goal in your life.
6. Alexis Sablone
Skateboarding is more of a passion than a sport. Therefore, we find several skateboarders who start at an early age. Similar to Bufoni, Sablone started at the age of 9. She was self-started so she had a taste of street skating in her skateboarding style.
She has performed in several films and sponsored brands like WKND and Converse. Not only skating is her profession but she is also an MIT graduate with a degree in Architecture. This says a lot about her love of skateboarding.
With her degree in architecture, she promoted skateboarding in a different style by bringing new models and designs of skateboards. In addition to making her way into X-Games, she also won 3 Gold Medals, 2 silver, and 1 bronze medal.
7. Aori Nishimura
A marvellous young skateboarder Aori Nishimura has already achieved more than most at her age. She became a pro skater when she was only in 5th grade.
At the Japan National Skateboarding Championship, she won a Gold Medal and in the same year, she received another Gold Medal at X-Games in Minneapolis. This was the year 2017. In the year 2019, she won two more Gold Medals and a Silver and Bronze Medal from the previous year.
She had a tough time with an ACL injury. The girl had high aims and she didn’t quit. She had recently filmed a playable character in Tony Hawks. Aori Nishimura is one of those few people who pursue their career despite any challenge coming their way.
8. Lizzie Armanto
Lizzie Armanto has raised the world’s expectations for female skateboarders, unlike other games where women are questioned for their abilities. Armanto is among the most respected female skateboarders out there.
What makes Armanto distinct in this industry is her ability to do a full loop. There are only a few skateboarders who have done the 360-degree flip successfully, and Armanto is one of them. The first female to be able to do it.
She has won around thirty awards including a Gold Medal at X Games Women’s Park competition held in 2013. She also won the Van Doren International game contest in 2014. Armanto has this achievement of being the first female to be featured in Transworld magazine as a skateboarder. She has also played as a dominant character in video games of Tony Hawks Shred Session and some others.
She kept her interest more oriented toward vert skateboarding, rather than parks. Her performance is evidence of how she stuck to her passion.
9. Nora Vasconcellos
A true motivation to young skateboarders, Nora started her career in skateboarding recently. She became a pro very soon and did several videos with different brands. She is quite famous for her skating videos with OJ Wheels, Rendezvous, Adidas, Séance, Hawaiian Holiday, etc.
Although most people know her for her skating videos, she has participated in so many games. Her skating features both park and street styles. In 2017, she won the Van Park World Championship series and earned a good name in skateboarding.
Nora’s video for Adidas covering her life as a skateboarder reached over 1 million views. A really good start to her career as skateboarding pushes other females to join skating too.
10. Alana Smith
A stunning female skateboarder who showed her interest in skateboarding at a very early age. It didn’t take long for her to become a pro at skateboarding. She was rewarded as the youngest pro skateboarder to win a Silver Medal at the X Games in Barcelona in 2013.
Alana is a keen rider who didn’t give up on her dreams and paid attention to every single detail of skateboarding. The girl won her very first Girls Combi Pool Classic and started her career as a brand ambassador at Tactics.
It was her struggle that kept her going until she became the first non-binary athlete to compete at the Olympics in 2021. It was a significant shift in the history of skateboarding that a female started participating in it. Indeed, she is a great source of motivation for young girl skateboarders.
11. Sky Brown
The youngest Olympiad-winning skateboarding girl, Sky brown has reached the skies in her profession. Besides her young age, she has several significant accomplishments in her career. Sky Brown is a pro at street skating in addition to unchallengeable surfer.
Winning a 720 on a skateboard, and 540 in X-Games made her the first female skateboarder in the field. she is also interested in surfing. She recently competed in a surfing challenge at the Olympics. She is no doubt an avid surfer.
Sky Brown started her career at a very young age when she was just 8 years old. That made her the youngest female skateboarder to participate in the events. She earned a bronze medal at the Olympics for Great Britain and a Gold Medal at the X Games in 2021.
12. Sabre Norris
A marvellous skateboarder Norris is ‘the most talked about female skateboarder. She earned her name in skateboarding at 9 years of age. Born in 2015, Norris got famous for her videos on YouTube that helped her to show her talent to the world.
Not only this, Norris is the first Australian female skateboarder to complete a 540 becoming the second-youngest skateboarder to ever participate in World Surf League. There’s much more to be seen from Norris yet. She hasn’t explored her real talent till now but there are chances that she will emerge as a great female skateboarder soon.
Norris’s dedication brought her name among the top ten most successful skateboarders. Only a few were able to show as much of their talent as Norris at the age of 16. She has proved herself as a warrior and told the world that females can do anything they wish for.
13. Rayssa Leal
Rayssa Leal not only pursued her career in skateboarding at a very young age, but she also promoted female skateboarders by uploading her videos. Rayssa Leal made a series of videos of her skating in the street named “The Little Fairy of Skateboarding”. This motivation brought many other women to the street to carry on with skateboarding.
With her first video of flipping the skateboard on stairs going viral, she got many sponsors like Nike SB. In addition, she secured the second position in SLS World Championship Finals 2019.
In an industry where women weren’t encouraged much, a girl like her could change their mind. Showing that women have the right to follow their dreams, Rayssa made it possible for other girls to do skateboarding.
14. Amy Caron
Amy Caron started at 12 years of age and did not take long to become a pro. Winning three Bronze Medals, Caron has mastered both street and park skateboarding. Amy Caron has featured several brands and videos.
Amy Caron’s passion for skateboarding assured me that there is nothing in this world that women can’t do. She is no doubt the world’s best female skateboarder. She has won medals in both street and park skateboarding.
Such a perfect mash-up of the multi-talented girl she is. She won one Bronze Medal in 2003 for park skateboarding and the other two in 2007 and 2008 for street skateboarding. She has been featured on AKA Girl Skate Film and has also become a co-founder of the magazine The Bigfoot Skateboard.
15. Jen O’Brien
Jen O’Brien is not only a skateboard champion, but she is also the driving force behind women in skateboarding. Brien has got the nerve to speak for women’s rights in skateboarding. She has always been encouraging women to join skateboarding by raising awareness.
Jen O’Brien has helped women to participate in the X Games. Not only this, but she also continued to raise her voice for equal prize money for women. She fought for equal television coverage for girl skateboarders and opportunities as well.
When X Games played a significant role in bringing the pro skateboarding skills out of women, she was the pioneer for girls who made the challenges possible. She won a silver medal to prove herself. Female skateboarders owe a lot to Jeb O’Brien for her tiresome efforts for equality in skateboarding.
16. Vanessa Torres
Vanessa Torres is the initiator of female participation in the X Games. She skipped high school to follow her ambition to become a pro skateboarder. Soon she became the first female to win Gold Medal in X Games.
Torres started skating at a young age and soon she became a pro skater. She didn’t take long to prove herself a successful person after she dropped out of college. That is when she participated in the X Games in 2003 and won a Gold Medal making herself the first female to achieve this level of success. She inaugurated the participation of females in skateboarding games.
Over the next 13 years, she won a Silver and two Bronze Medals. She became the third female to appear in video games.
17. Jaime Reyes
Jaime Reyes, born in Oahu, grew up to be a great surfer. Reyes bumped into a group of skaters one day and that’s when she started surfing. The skateboarding got her crazy and she carried on with great momentum.
Reyes is one of those few skateboarders who ran with Elissa Steamer and Lauren Mollica. She also got coverage on the Thrasher in 1994. She started with a competition at the legendary A’Ala Park in Hawaii. She competed in more prestigious events as well.
18. Samarria Brevard
Even when skateboarding was introduced in America, it wasn’t well known to many other cultures. Thanks to Samarria Brevard who raised the trend of skateboarding to African American females as well.
Brevard was the first African American female skateboarder who won the Silver Medal at X Games in 2017. She was also the first African American to work in a skate film. Brevard started in her early teens and became a pro within five years.
She is the pioneer of female African American skateboarders. She has pursued her career to the fullest by setting an example for females of all races to join skateboarding. She has been a motivation to many.
19. Mariah Duran
Mariah is one of those female skateboarders who started at a young age. She made it to a pro skater in 2016 when she began to compete in local skateboarding games. She also represented some significant brands such as Meow Skateboards since 2016.
She has been a stunning skateboarder raising the names of girls in skateboarding. She owns one Silver and two Gold Medals. In 2016, she won a Silver Medal in Summer X Games and two Gold Medals in 2018 at a street event. She also participated in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Mariah Duran is an inspiration to many. She started with the local competitions until she made it to the Olympics. Her journey throughout is a great expression of struggle and hard work in addition to dedication.
20. Margielyn Didal
Born in Cebu, Philippines, Didal started skating at a very young age with her friends. Similar to Duran started her career by competing in local tournaments. She won three Gold Medals during the journey.
Didal became famous in 2018 and was a prominent figure in skateboarding until 2019. She participated twice in Street League Skateboarding and once in the X Games during those years. She got a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in 2018 and 2 Gold Medals in the Southeast Asian Games in 2019.
It’s quite difficult to start a career without any professional training. However, girls like Didal prove their worth by showing such extraordinary results on their own. She is a huge source of motivation for every young person.
21. Pamela Rosa
A wonder girl from Brazil, Rosa started at an indoor skating park near her home and became an eminent personality in skateboarding. She was lucky enough to have a skate park nearby, where she practiced day and night to prove herself.
She turned her skills with passion and interest until she became a professional. She has always been an amazing skateboarder. She won 5 Medals within 6 years of her profession. She won a Gold Medal in 2016, three Silvers in 2014, 2015, and 2019, and a Bronze in 2018 at X Games challenges. She has also powered through World Skateboarding Championship in 2019 where she won a Gold Medal as well as in 2021.
So many achievements within such a short time make her distinct in the skateboarding world. There is so much to learn from her journey to become such an influential skateboarder.
22. Sakura Yosozumi
Sakura being influenced by her younger brother started skateboarding at a very young age. She was 11 years old when she took skateboarding seriously and started her training. There are very less people on earth who get a chance to do professional training. Yosozumi was lucky enough to get that training started where she practiced 5 hours a day after her school.
Yosozumi earned three Gold Medals in 2018 at the Asian Games, the World Championship, and the Olympic Games 2020. She won a Bronze in the X Games. She turned every effort to perfection to get to the top of it. She was a destined, passionate, and hard-working girl.
Throughout her journey to become a great female skateboarder, she never loses hope. There is always a space for women like her in this field. Yosozumi has been an inspiration to me because of the way she managed her school and passion at the same time.
23. Momiji Nishiya
One of the best female skateboarders without any doubt. Momiji Nishiya has repeatedly won several contests in her life. She is the greatest example of a young talented female skateboarder. Her achievements are not only confined to X Games, fact, but she has also won several Gold Medals in the Olympiads and Street World Championship.
Momiji won a Gold medal at the Street Skateboarding Olympic Games. She is the youngest champion in Japan who won the Gold Medal. She has a track record of winning games. She earned a Silver Medal in the X Games when she was just 11 years old.
24. Lucy Adams
Next up, we have the UK’s legendary female skateboarder, Lucy Adams. Lucy was the founder of skateboarding passion in England. She brought the concept of female skateboarding to England when the idea was non-existent. She worked for the rights of women in sports and played a significant role for young girls.
Adams skated for twenty years and became the chair of the Skateboard Governing Body in Great Britain. She has played a vital role in bringing women skateboarders to the limelight. Only a few people in the world work for the welfare of other humans. Adams proved to be a great support to women in sports.
25. Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins
Hawkins is a great player in basketball, soccer, and baseball in addition to skateboarding. However, her passion was just skateboarding. She started surfing at the age of 6. She desired to pursue a skateboarding career and she earned a good name in skateboarding quite early.
Hawkins was the first female to skate at DC Mega Ramp. Within seven years from 2003 to 2010, she won three Gold Medals in vert, three Silvers in vert, and one Silver in the park event. In addition, she also won a Bronze Medal in vert.
Conclusion
Even though skateboarding has emerged as a proper sport recently, some people understand the number of skills required in it. Skateboarding has been growing ever since it started and it will continue to expand owing to their interest.
With the rising trend of skateboarding, the best female skateboarders of all time are yet to be decided, because several females haven’t shown up their real talents. Women have shown how they can be anything they want and excel in any field they are interested in. Female skateboarders have a huge hand in promoting skateboarding as a sport.