12-year-old Thai girl fulfills Olympic skateboarding dream

Published in: 03/07/2024 – 04:33Modified: 03/07/2024 – 05:31

3 minutes

Vareeraya, known by her nickname “ST”, dramatically secured her place at the qualifying competition in Budapest last month and will be one of the youngest athletes in Paris.

Feeling “pressured and stressed” ahead of the event – ​​her last chance to qualify – Vareeraya failed to qualify for the final round and went to a doping control, believing her hopes had been dashed.

“While I was waiting for my test results, my mother texted me: ‘ST, you made it to the Olympics!'” she told AFP.

“I was so happy. I was screaming in the middle of the room because I was so happy that I actually made it.”

Vareeraya finished 18th out of 22 competitors in the women’s street skateboarding competition, which will take place on July 28 at Place de la Concorde in the French capital.

Skateboarding, divided into park and street disciplines, made its Olympic debut three years ago in Tokyo, with competitors judged on the height and difficulty of their tricks.

British idol

Vareeraya’s journey to Paris began when she was seven, when her mother took her to a new skate park near their home in Bangkok.

The little girl thought she would go roller skating, but her mother, Tulraya Chantawong, a singer and former contestant on The Voice Thailand, had other plans.

“My mother lied and said we weren’t allowed to roller skate, only skateboard,” she said.

“At first I didn’t like it. I thought, ‘Why should I skate? It’s hard.'”

But under the watchful eye of older skaters and her mother, Vareeraya soon caught the bug.

“I saw other skaters putting their boards on the ramp and I was like, ‘Is it that hard?’” she said.

“I asked them to teach me these tricks.”

Vareeraya’s skating idol is Briton Sky Brown, who won a bronze medal in Tokyo when he was just 13, and will now compete again in Paris.

However, the pair will not be competing against each other, as Brown will be competing in the park event, which relies on ramps and half-pipes.

Vareeraya’s street competition takes place on a straight course, with steps and handrails to resemble an urban environment.

Injury problems

Her road to the Olympics was riddled with injuries, which are not uncommon in such a risky sport. These injuries sometimes kept her out of action for months.

“I hurt myself and had to take a break for about four to six months,” she said.

“The longest period was during the pandemic when I couldn’t skate anywhere.”

Despite setbacks, she continued to improve her skills, often drawing inspiration from figure skating competitions abroad.

“The first time I competed outside the country was in Indonesia,” she said.

“I didn’t have many skate idols in Thailand, so it was a chance to get to know skaters from Japan, China and the US better.”

Japanese skaters are expected to dominate Paris, as they did in Tokyo, where they won four of the six medals in the women’s event.

Apichat Rutnin, vice president of the Thailand Extreme Sports Association, said Vareeraya’s goal is to finish in the top 10 out of 22 competitors in her event and set even higher goals for future Olympics.

“She is proof that young Thai skaters can succeed on the international stage and earn a place at the Olympics,” he told AFP.

© 2024 AFP