Professional skateboarders reached out to help her, and companies offered to sponsor her. Soon, Rayssa was ready to take her passion to the next level—international competition.

So, in 2019, at 11 years old, Rayssa flew onto the world skating stage. She stunned audiences by winning first place at the Street League Skateboarding Championship in Los Angeles—the youngest female competitor to do so.

Then, she got fourth place at her first X Games competition—beating out professionals more than twice her age!

Wherever she went, Rayssa wowed the crowd with her creative skating and won their hearts with her joyful spirit. Newspapers were calling. Coaches wanted to train her. Rayssa found it a bit overwhelming at first, but slowly, she got used to the attention. She liked talking to other young skateboarders, encouraging them to keep practicing and having fun.

But Rayssa was never happier than when she was on her skateboard, floating and flipping. When she was skating, it was like the world disappeared. It was just her, her board, and the wind flowing as one.

For Rayssa, that was what mattered most.

Even though skateboarding had been around since the 1950s, it was often not taken seriously. Rayssa was thrilled. She dreamed of taking her heelflips to the top and bringing home gold for her country.

But then, in March of 2020, just before the Olympic Games were set to begin, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Olympics were postponed to keep everyone safe. Rayssa was crushed. She tried to be patient and disciplined. Day in and day out, she kept training. In the mornings, she worked on her schoolwork. And in the afternoons and evenings, she skated.

Again and again, Rayssa shredded at the skatepark and cruised through the streets. She slid up and down rails, did complicated stalls perched on metal coping, jumped stairs, carved bowls, cleared gaps, and flipped her skateboard this way and that. Sometimes, she nailed it. Other times, she fell hard. But always—always, she got back up again.

Finally, after a long wait, the Olympic Games were rescheduled for summer 2021. 13-year-old Rayssa flew all the way to Tokyo, Japan. There, the best athletes from around the globe descended on the buzzing city, preparing for the huge competition. There were so many different languages being spoken; so much excitement and nervous energy.

On the morning of the Women’s Street Skateboarding event, Rayssa stepped into the Sports Park with her skateboard tucked under her arm.

As Rayssa toed the coping at the top of the first ramp, she planned out the line of tricks that lay ahead of her.

Gone was Rayssa’s fairy costume. Now, she donned her country’s colors—a dark blue t-shirt with green accents—and comfy brown pants.

With a running start, Rayssa flew on her skateboard down the ramp and into the skate park. She leapt up onto a rail and did a smith grind all the way down. Then she pushed off and sped to another lip for a back lip slide. She swept from one end of the skate park to the next, stunning the crowd with all of her best tricks— the feeble grind, the kickflip front, and her now-legendary heelflip. She was a blur of grace and strength and flair, with the sunlight bouncing off her braces and her wavy hair dancing behind her. The announcers marveled, “It’s like she’s got helium in her bones.”

Rayssa’s run wasn’t perfect —no one’s was. On one of her tricks, she fell after landing a railslide. But she popped up and flashed her awesome smile before starting up again. On another trick, she soared up into the air and rode a rail so smoothly—from beginning to end—she got top marks. The crowd cheered, filling her with confidence as she finished her last run.

Finally, the scores were tabulated. Rayssa saw her name flash up on the scoreboard.

She won second place! She won the silver medal!

With a dazzling smile on her face, Rayssa walked over to the first-place gold medalist—a 13-year-old girl from Japan named Momiji Nishiya — and gave her a HUGE sweaty hug.

Each person on the podium made history that day—as the first female skaters EVER to win medals in this brand new Olympic sport.

On top of that, Rayssa was the youngest person to ever win an Olympic medal for Team Brazil.

And more than anything, Rayssa had had the time of her life.

“Rayssa!” they called out.

“Fadinha!” fans shouted as she went by.

Soon, kids around Brazil were lining up to buy skateboards, and the local parks saw a whole new wave of skaters.

Everyone wanted to be like Rayssa, the Skateboarding Fairy.

She wants the world to know that skateboarding is for everyone—especially girls.

As Rayssa says, “I want other girls to have the same opportunity as me to see their lives and dreams come true through sports. We just have to believe in ourselves and our potential.”

Though it may seem like a fairytale dream come true, Rayssa worked hard to become the world-class skater she is today. She started with fairy wings, but now she’s flying all on her own.