Every now and then, Women at the Olympics prove that age is indeed just a number. 14-year-old athlete Arisa Trew arrived in action on her skateboard and took the gold medal home. History has been created as she became the youngest Australian woman to win gold at the age of 14 years, two months and 26 days precisely. It is also a victory for skateboarding as a sport as this is the first time an Australian woman has garnered gold in this sport.
Little Arisa is as proud of her achievement as we are, "It feels amazing having the gold medal. It's been my goal since watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. That inspired me and made me want to come to these Olympics and get to the podium, which is amazing," she quotes.
Who is Arisa Trew?
Trew was born in Cairns, Queensland. She found her love for skateboarding at the tender age of 7 and has been actively practising it since then.
She made her debut in the Paris Olympics 2024 as a member of Australia's skateboarding team. Her joyful spirit is behind these giant leaps. And her easygoing attitude makes the wondrous effort appear effortless.
"I mean like when I'm in the competition, I just pretend that I'm still in warm-up or playing skates with my friends for fun," recalls Arisa.
Trew: Truly the over-achiever
In 2023, at the age of 13, Arisa became the first woman to land a 720 trick. '720 trick' is a skateboarding term that involves the athlete performing two full mid-air rotations. She gloriously topped it by performing a 900-degree spin after a couple of months. The 900-degree spin is exactly like it sounds, the athlete has to do 2.5 rotations or a 900-degree aerial spin on a skateboard ramp.
In April 2024, she was awarded with Laureus World Sports Award and won the title of "Action Sportsperson of the Year."
Arisa has always been in awe of Tony Hawk, the legendary skateboarder from the US. She says it's been incredible to have him follow her career as he pens down a heartfelt post admiring Trew's extraordinary skills.
"I think Tony is everybody's inspiration in skateboarding, everybody knows who he is and he definitely pushed skateboarding for everyone. I've known him because he is someone who impacted skateboarding so so much. And I've done some of his competitions at Tony Hawk Vert Alert, which is really cool," said Trew.
It's safe to say Trew is as flattered by Hawk's words as the world is with her skills.
Two words by coach that led Trew to the Gold
The two-word speech given by Trevor Ward, Trew's coach before leading her to victory is pure gold itself. The bizarre words "Skibidi Sigma" are adjourned into Arisa's memory now associated with a legendary moment.
'Skibidi' is a nonsensical and meme word that means cool. And 'sigma' is a leader or a cool and successful person. Did this GenZ slang inspire Trew to garner all her spirit and arrive as a legendary leader? One can only assume.
Whatever the term means, it sure has brought a glorious outcome. And we couldn't be happier!
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