Women's Skateboard Street Riders Win at SLS Tokyo 2024

The energy was off the charts in Japan! Monster Energy congratulates team rider Rayssa Leal on taking first place in Women’s Skateboard Street in the Street League Skateboarding (SLS) Tokyo 2024 skateboarding competition. In the seventh stop of the 2024 SLS Championship Tour presented by Monster Energy as the official energy drink sponsor, the 16-year-old from Imperatriz, Brazil, took the win amid an international field. 

In the battle that came down to final attempts, 15-year-old Liz Akama from Miyagi, Japan, finished in close second place, trailing Leal by fractions of a point. 

Contested inside Ariake Arena in Tokyo, SLS Tokyo marked the fourth major stadium event on the 2024 SLS Championship Tour. This year’s edition boasts the largest equal-gender purse in competitive skateboarding. A total of $1.8 million in prize money is at stake, including $100,000 each for SLS Super Crown Champions, the largest single prize purse in skateboarding.  

The 2024 season will conclude in three weeks, with the SLS Super Crown World Championships in Brazil from December 14-15.  

Street League Skateboarding (SLS) was started in 2010 by professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek, with Monster Energy as a foundational partner. Since then, the competition series has cemented itself as the most authentic showcase for street skateboarding contests. Riders compete on lifelike street obstacles designed by expert course builders California Skateparks. 

Monster Energy’s Leal came to Tokyo looking for a podium finish after settling for fourth place at SLS Sydney in October. When the Women’s Skateboard Street final kicked off, the Brazilian skate prodigy demonstrated her focus by putting down two high-scoring runs. 

On her second run, Leal covered the Tokyo course with crooked grind the big Hubba ledge, 360 kickflip the bump, frontside bluntslide the flat rail, backside lipslide the big rail, backside tailslide the rail, and kickflip backside Smith grind the rail for 7.8 points. 

Expanding her score in Best Trick, Leal finessed a flawless backside tailslide the big Hubba ledge for 8.2 points on her second attempt. On the next try, she posted a backside Smith grind the big Hubba for 7.1 points.  

On her fifth and final attempt, Leal found herself behind teammate Akama, who took over first place with a score of 30.1 points. Putting it all on the line, Leal needed a big trick to seal her win: She found it with a technical frontside bluntslide the big rail for 7.9 points and an overall score of 30.7 points for the win at SLS Tokyo. 

The win in Tokyo concludes a successful season for Leal, with this win guaranteeing her a ticket straight to the finals at the SLS Super Crown World Championship. Before today’s win, Leal took second place at SLS Paris, first at SLS San Diego, and fourth at SLS Sydney. 

Leal’s most intense competition came from 15-year-old Liz Akama from Miyagi, Japan. On her second attempt in the Run section, Akama put together frontside feeble the big rail, kickflip the bump, sugarcane grind the rail, huge ollie over the rock gap, frontside heelflip bigspin the bump, and backside 50-50 the big Hubba ledge for 6.6 points. 

Boosting her score, Akama unleashed signature tech moves in the Best Trick section: A perfectly dipped backside Smith grind the big rail earned 7.0 points. On her fourth attempt, Akama dropped one of the day’s most difficult tricks with a frontside 180 nosegrind the big Hubba for 8.1 points. On her fifth and final attempt, she posted the highest score of Saturday’s women’s competition by landing a Barley grind revert for 8.4 points. Akama claimed second place in Tokyo with an overall score of 30.1 points, only 0.6 points behind Leal. 

Next on the agenda, it’s time to end the 2024 season with a bang: The SLS Super Crown World Championship will determine this year’s winners in São Paulo, Brazil, from December 14-15. Don’t miss it!