Brazilian Skater Rayssa Leal Finds Joy After Olympic Pressure

When Rayssa Leal landed her final trick at Paris 2024, the relief washing over her face told a story bigger than bronze.

The Brazilian skateboarding sensation arrived at the Games as a 16-year-old carrying enormous expectations. She was already an Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo, already internet famous from a viral video of her seven-year-old self heel-flipping in a fairy tutu. For the first time in her young career, the weight of the world's eyes felt heavy.

"Paris was crazy," Leal told Olympics.com two years later. "I was so nervous. I felt a lot of pressure to skate lighter, more beautiful." She stumbled through the semi-finals, falling repeatedly, showing the world she was human after all.

Sitting fifth before her final attempt, Leal pulled off a flawless kickflip Smith grind that bumped her to third place. In a sea of Brazilian flags, something shifted inside her.

Why This Inspires

What happened next shows the real victory wasn't the medal. Leal started therapy three times a week, not to train harder, but to find peace.

"Paris changed the way I viewed skateboarding," she reflected in Rome this year during the first LA28 qualifying event, where she claimed another bronze. "I learned it wasn't only about pressure, but to have fun."

The transformation is visible. Once the nervous prodigy, Leal has become one of the most composed forces in competitive skating. She graduated high school while juggling training between Los Angeles and Brazil, graced the cover of Rolling Stone Brazil, and became the youngest person on TIME's first-ever list of the 100 most influential athletes in the world.

Her approach to LA28, which will be her third Olympics at age 20, reflects her growth. "The show must go on," she smiled, naming this chapter of her journey. "I have the maturity to understand that if I am having fun, I can reach unimaginable places."

She describes skateboarding now as freedom, a creative outlet that helps her handle difficult emotions. "Sometimes if I'm not feeling so good, I get on the board and the feeling goes away," she explained. "I can be myself. I can have fun, laugh, fall, get up, continue."

At an age when most athletes dream of starting their Olympic journey, Leal is already a veteran planning for two or three more Games beyond LA. Her generation, she notes, will eventually be "at the back" supporting younger skaters.

For now, she's skating with joy instead of fear, and the sport is loving her back.