HannahRayssa Leal is an inspirational athlete and role model for so many young girls everywhere. Rayssa has achieved incredible success in the sports world, having won a silver medal for Brazil at the Olympics and claimed victory at the Skate Street World League Championship.
Rayssa’s passion for skateboarding and tireless efforts to achieve her goals have not gone unnoticed, and she remains an incredible example of what hard work and perseverance can accomplish. Rayssa is certainly a name to remember as she continues to make her mark as a talented female skater in the ever-growing world of professional skateboarding.
An Inspiration At A Young Age
At only 14 years old, the Brazilian Jhulia Rayssa Mendes Leal, (Rayssa Leal, as she is better known), owns these important achievements in her career, becoming the youngest Brazilian Olympic medalist. Despite her young age, she has already shown that she is definitely a Smart Girl and one to watch!
A Special Gift
Rayssa was born on January 4, 2008, in Imperatriz, a city from Maranhão, Brazil. When she was 6, she received a birthday gift from her father. Neither of them could have imagined that this gift would have such an impact on her life. The gift? A skateboard, of course!
After that, Rayssa, or “fadinha” (“little fairy”) as she is also known, started to practice the sport and never stopped! In 2015, when she was 7, she took a bus with her family to Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, for a more than 1700 mi trip. The goal was to participate in the first Brazilian Junior Skate Street Championship. She impressed everyone by becoming Brazil’s first champion of street skate juniors.
The Nickname: “Fadinha” (“Little Fairy”)
After the competition, she became well known when Tony Hawk, the biggest name in skate history, shared a video on his Twitter of Rayssa performing using a fairy costume. In the post, he wrote: “I don’t know anything about this but it’s awesome: a fairytale heelflip in Brazil”.
After that, the “Little Fairy” started to get more and more visibility, gaining thousands and thousands of fans and followers on social media. Today, she has more than 6M followers on Instagram and inspires young aspiring athletes everywhere.
Her Career As A Skater
In 2019, Rayssa went to London to compete at the Street League Skateboarding Championship (SLS), and placed 3rd. In the same year, she participated in the Street League Skateboarding Championship of Los Angeles, where she won first place.
She kept training and improving until she became the youngest athlete to conquer a place to represent Brazil in the Olympics. A true pride for her country. In 2020, when she was 13, the little fairy participated in the Toquio Olympics, giving, one more time, a bunch of reasons to make her country proud of her: she won the silver medal, becoming the youngest medalist in the Brazilian delegation.
2022 was also a big year for Rayssa, when she participated in 3 important skate competitions. In May 2022, she won the XGames, in Japan. In August 2022, she got 5 victories in the Street League Skateboarding, receiving the title of the biggest champion of the competition stages. In November 2022, she won first place, becoming the world champion of the Skate Street League in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
An Inspirational Athlete
These are just some of Rayssa’s achievements. Can you imagine what this inspirational athlete will accomplish next? You can follow @rayssalealsk8 on Instagram to keep seeing this amazing girl.
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