Monster Energy's Skateboard Street Riders Win World Championship

Witness skateboarding history in the making! Monster Energy congratulates team riders Nyjah Huston and Rayssa Leal on taking first place in Men’s and Women’s Skateboard Street, respectively, at the SLS Super Crown World Championship in São Paulo, Brazil on Sunday. 

In the iconic competition presented by Street League Skateboarding (SLS), 30-year-old Huston from Laguna Beach, California, claimed his seventh career SLS world championship victory in Men’s Skateboard Street. In the Women’s Skateboard Street final, 16-year-old Leal from Imperatriz, Brazil, claimed her third consecutive SLS Super Crown World Championship title in a historic first for women’s skateboarding. Also rising to the podium, 23-year-old Giovanni Viannafrom Santo Andre, Brazil, earned second place in Men’s Skateboard Street.

As the grand finale of the 2024 SLS Championship Tour, the SLS Super Crown World Championship brought the season’s top-ranking SLS competitors to São Paulo, Brazil. From December 14-15, male and female competitors battled for world championship titles on the California Skateparks-designed course inside Ginasio do Ibirapuera sports arena. After stadium-sized 2024 SLS World Tour events in Paris, San Diego, Sydney, and Tokyo, supplemented by three SLS Apex best trick competitions, it was time to crown this year’s champions.

In the Men’s Skateboard Street final, Huston competed as a six-time SLS Super Crown champion and fully focused on claiming another victory. Rising to the high-stakes competition, Huston finessed a perfect run in the Line Section on his second attempt: Covering every obstacle on the course with difficult tricks, Huston landed nollie frontside nosegrind the 15-stair rail, frontside bigspin frontside boardslide fakie the rail, 360 kickflip the bump, kickflip backside lipslide the Euro Gap rail, Half Cab kickflip into the bank, backside tailslide the bump to bench, switch frontside kickflip the bump, nollie backside 180 heelflip the Euro gap and switch frontside bluntslide the big rail for 9.2 points and the highest Line Section score of the day.

Huston kept raising the bar in the Single Trick section by stomping a technical nollie backside heelflip lipslide the big rail for 9.3 points on his first attempt to maintain his lead. On his second attempt, Huston had the crowd on its feet with a nollie backside kickflip lipslide fakie the big rail for another Nine Club score of 9.3 points. Next, Huston finalized his victory by putting down a switch heelflip frontside boardslide the big rail for 9.0 points on the fourth attempt, ultimately taking his last run as a victory lap. 

On the strength of 36.8 points in total, Huston earned the 2024 SLS Super Crown World Championship title as his seventh career win in the event and first win since 2019.

“This one is the best ever!” said Huston about the victory in Brazil. “Because it takes a lot of work to keep going at this level and to keep up with the guys out here. I just turned 30 a couple weeks ago. So this is a great start to the golden year!”

Speaking on the world championship win, Huston added: “Big shout out to Brazil! The energy keeps us going. All I gotta say is, it’s been too long since I’ve seen the gold one!”

Huston has been competing in SLS competitions since the start of the series and won the first-ever SLS Super Crown contest in 2010. In a milestone-heavy career, Huston holds the record for most X Games gold medals in skateboarding at 15 gold medals. This year, Huston claimed gold in Men’s Skateboard Street at X Games Ventura 2024 and earned a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer games in Paris.

Huston’s closest competition came from 2023’s SLS Super Crown Champion and teammate, Vianna from Brazil. In his first Line Section attempt, Vianna earned a Nine Club score by landing Caballerial backside lipslide fakie the big rail, switch frontside bluntslide the rail, nollie frontside boardslide the Euro Gap rail, Half Cab frontside nosegrind the Hubba ledge, heelflip frontside boardslide the rail, frontside crooked grind the bump to bench, fakie hurricane the big rail and bluntslide fakie the rail for 9.1 points. 

Vienna brought the pressure to Single Trick attempts by landing Caballerial frontside noseslide fakie the 15-stair rail on the first attempt for 9.1 points. On his third attempt, he followed suit with a Caballerial frontside bluntslide fakie the big rail for 9.2 points. After landing a perfectly dipped Half Cab backside Smith grind the big rail on attempt four for 8.8 points, Vianna took home second place in the 2024 SLS Super Crown with a total score of 36.2 points.

In the Women’s Skateboard Street final, Monster Energy’s Leal dropped in as the reigning SLS Super Crown World Champion and fresh off a win at the SLS Tokyo contest in late November. Cheered on by the hometown crowd, Leal put down two perfect runs in the Line Section for a strong start. 

During Run 2, Leal earned her highest score with a flawless line featuring backside lipslide the big rail, kickflip frontside boardslide fakie the rail, kickflip backside lipslide the Euro Gap rail, crooked grind the bump to bench, frontside noseblunt slide the flat rail, backside Smith grind the big rail, and frontside bluntslide fakie the rail for 8.5 points and an early lead.

Despite the strong opening, Leal soon found herself in a pressure cooker situation after missing her first two attempts in Single Trick. Moving forward, the defending champion had no choice but to land every trick – and put high scores on the board – to retain her chances at winning.

No stranger to all-or-nothing scenarios, Leal posted a Nine Club score on her third Single Trick attempt by landing a technical frontside bluntslide shove-it down the big rail for 9.1 points. Maintaining her momentum, Leal followed up with a perfectly poised kickflip frontside boardslide the big rail for 8.7 points, rising to the top of the leaderboard with a 26.3-point score.

But as the competition boiled down to fifth and final attempts, Leal suddenly bumped to fourth place – entirely off the podium – with Japan’s Coco Yoshizawa taking over the top spot. Regaining the lead and defending her world championship title would take no less than another Nine Club score. 

In a classic SLS moment, Leal delivered in the clutch by finessing a flawless kickflip backside lipslide the big rail for 9.1 points to make the crowd cheer. With an overall score of 35.4 points, Leal earned her third Women’s Street Skateboarding SLS Super Crown World Championship title. 

Asked about the high-pressure final, Leal said: “I don’t have words for this. It’s everything for me [....] the feeling, my whole family is here, and my team is here, too. So, I like the pressure. I like the crowd. I feel like they are hugging me!”

Hailing from Brazil, Leal made history as the first female skateboarder to win three consecutive SLS Super Crown World Championships. She matches the record previously set by her Monster Energy teammate Nyjah Huston as a three-peat Men’s SLS Super Crown World Champion. “Nyjah is a legend, not only for me but for all the skateboarders. X Games, SLS, all the contests. And for his skate tricks! So I’m very happy to be almost there,” said Leal about the setting of the historic record.

This year, Leal earned a bronze medal in women’s street skateboarding at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris and a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Also putting on a strong performance at the 2024 SLS Super Crown Championship, 15-year-old Liz Akama from Miyagi, Japan, stoked the crowd in the final. Her highest scoring run included backside Smith grind the big rail, Barley grind revert the rail, frontside bigspin the bump, backside lipslide the big rail, frontside feeble grind the rail, kickflip the bump, and frontside 180 backward nosegrind the Hubba ledge for 7.9 points. Akama put down a Barley grind revert the big rail in Single Trick for 8.3 points but had to settle for fifth place with 23.2 points after difficulty securing another score.