Brazil’s Rayssa Leal Claims Silver Medal at Tokyo Games

2020 Tokyo Games

Rayssa Leal is livin’ a teenage dream…

The 13-year-old skateboarder, known as “A Fadinha do Skate“, which translates roughly to “The Skate Fairy,” has skated her way onto the medal stand at the 2020 Tokyo Games after the women’s street skateboarding competition.

Rayssa Leal

Leal was thisclose to taking home the gold medal before Japan’s Momiji Nishiya used her final trick to leapfrog Leal with a score of 15.26. Leal finished with a score of 14.64, just behind Nishiya, earning her the silver medal.

They both were nearly the youngest medalists in Olympic history. Denmark’s Inge Sorensen was 12 years and 24 days old when he earned a bronze medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 1936 Olympics.

Each competitor had two 45-second runs and five individual tricks in which judges had an opportunity to grade. However, Nishiya was the only competitor that was able to land her final trick in the event.

“I’m very happy to make this dream come true,” Leal said following the event. “It’s a dream for my parents and it’s a dream for me to be here at the Olympics. It’s fantastic to represent Brazil and get this medal. I had great fun.”

Leal introduced herself to the skateboarding world in 2015, when, while wearing a fairytale princess costume, the then 8-year-old went viral for her skating prowess. Even skating legend Tony Hawk tweeted about her back then:

Six years later, Leal is an Olympic silver medalist.

Bufoni to Appear at the 2016 Kids’ Choice Sports Awards

Leticia Bufoni is ready to Kid around…

The 23-year-old Brazilian professional street skateboarder is among several top athletes who’ve signed on to take part in the 2016 Kids’ Choice Sports Awards.

Leticia Bufoni

Bufoni, who became the only female athlete to win three X Games gold medals in the same year back in 2013, is nominated in the Queen of Swag category.

In addition to Bufoni, other top athletes set to participate include Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

In addition, Nickelodeon has lined up Nick Cannon, along with several other top athletes, to hit the stage at UCLA‘s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Also taking part are Curry’s Warriors teammate Klay Thompson and fellow NBA pro Iman Shumper (Cleveland Cavaliers); NFL players Antonio Brown (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Von Miller (Denver Broncos); MLB player Prince Fielder (Texas Rangers); NHL player Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings); Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza (American Pharoah); professional snowboarder Jamie Anderson; and professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

The awards show is set to tape Thursday and will air from 8:00-9:30 pm ET/PT on July 17.

Seattle Seahawks two-time Super Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson will return as host, and retired NBA star Kobe Bryant is set to receive the Legend Award.