The Best Female Skateboarders, From Pioneers to Olympians (2026)

Women Who Shaped Skateboarding

Women have been skateboarding since the very beginning, even when contests, magazines and sponsors mostly ignored them. Pioneers fought for coverage and contest spots, and today women's street and park are full Olympic events with some of the sport's most exciting skaters. This list covers trailblazers who opened doors and modern champions setting new standards. We stick to documented milestones and results.

At a Glance

The Pioneers

Patti McGee

Patti McGee is often called skateboarding's first female star. She won an early women's national title in the 1960s and was photographed doing a handstand on her board for the cover of Life magazine in 1965, one of the most famous early images of the sport.

Peggy Oki

Peggy Oki was the only woman on the original Zephyr team, the Santa Monica and Venice crew (the "Z-Boys") whose surf-inspired style helped transform skateboarding in the 1970s.

Cara-Beth Burnside

In 1989, Cara-Beth Burnside became the first woman on the cover of Thrasher. She also competed in snowboarding at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, finishing fourth, won medals at both the Summer and Winter X Games, and in 1999 became the first woman with a signature skate shoe.

Elissa Steamer

Elissa Steamer was a leading street skater of the 1990s and 2000s and was featured as a playable skater in the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video game, which introduced her to millions of players.

Contest Legends

Leticia Bufoni

Brazil's Leticia Bufoni is one of the most successful street skaters in X Games history. Guinness World Records recognized her for the most X Games skateboard street gold medals by a woman and the most medals in X Games summer disciplines by a woman.

Lizzie Armanto

A transition and park specialist, Lizzie Armanto made history in 2018 as the first woman to complete Tony Hawk's full 360-degree loop. She later competed for Finland in Olympic park skateboarding.

Olympic Champions and Medalists

Skateboarding debuted at the Olympics at Tokyo 2020, and teenagers dominated the women's podiums.

Momiji Nishiya

Japan's Momiji Nishiya won the first-ever Olympic women's street gold at Tokyo 2020 at age 13.

Rayssa Leal

Brazil's Rayssa Leal won street silver at Tokyo at 13 and bronze at Paris, making her one of the few skaters to medal at both Games.

Sky Brown

Sky Brown won park bronze at Tokyo at age 13 and another park bronze at Paris, competing for Great Britain.

Sakura Yosozumi and Kokona Hiraki

Sakura Yosozumi won the first Olympic women's park gold. Kokona Hiraki took silver at age 12, becoming the youngest Olympic medalist since 1936, and won silver again in Paris.

Arisa Trew and Coco Yoshizawa

At Paris 2024, Australia's Arisa Trew won park gold and Japan's Coco Yoshizawa won street gold, with teammate Liz Akama taking silver.

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