Skateboarding Is Now an Olympic Sport—and Lizzie Armanto Is Going for Gold

[Kid] How would you go about doing the drop in?

Well the key I think would be,

if you probably go in that pocket

'cause I think it's a little bit mellower.

Skateboarding has shaped how I see the world.

For most people it's just like a hobby.

It's a wooden toy.

And so how serious can it be?

But at the same time, it can change your whole world.

[Announcer] Tony Hawk's pick for world champion,

Lizzie Armanto from Santa Monica, California.

[Commentator] Super fast skateboarder,

obviously that trademark Lizzie style.

[Commentator 2] Skateboarding will be making

its Olympic debut this summer at the Tokyo Games.

[Commentator 3] People are anti-Olympics

because they think it's too mainstream.

[Commentator 4] Lizzie announced that she will be

representing Finland in the Olympics

to make room for another top rated female skateboarder

on the U.S. team.

The competition will feature both men and women,

which has not always been the case

at top skateboard contests.

Wooden skateboarding is growing.

[Commentator 5] It will change skateboarding.

When Lizzie was young, she was very quiet and low key.

When she set her mind to do something, she would just do it.

Her father got her and her brother a skateboard

and they used to go butt-boarding

until we moved up to Santa Monica,

and then she started going to The Cove Skate Park.

Skateboarding is similar to dance

in the sense that someone can do these moves

and you feel something when you watch.

It's kind of an intangible thing

that everyone in skateboarding is chasing.

There's no masters.

And even the people that we call masters,

they haven't done every trick.

No one can do everything on a skateboard at all times,

without failing.

Everyone falls and everyone will have

something that they can work on.

And that's why skateboarding is so special.

[Lizzie panting]

[sentimental music]

[Skater] Who went earlier?

[muffled talking]

You inspired my daughter, Kady, so much

to try to learn how to skate.

I remember we came here

the night you learned kickflip indies.

And we baked you a cake 'cause you did it.

It was cool to see it from a parent's perspective.

I'm sure your parents see it all the time.

Have they ever discouraged you?

I mean, when I first started skating,

I remember I would get so bruised up or scraped up.

And I remember when I first showed my mom,

she'd say, Oh, that's so ugly.

And I know she wasn't meaning to be discouraging,

but it definitely made me feel not good.

And the pain wasn't,

the issue was I don't want to disappoint my mom

or stress her out or not be able to skate again.

I hear so many girls, when I travel,

tell me that you inspired them to start.

Not trying to put more pressure on you,

but there's a lot of pressure on you Lizzie.

There's not a lot of women

making a career out of skateboarding.

It is still very small and an intimate group.

Definitely, like a couple of years ago,

you could know everyone who was going to be at the contest.

In the beginning,

being able to get paid to skateboard

and call it a job was a struggle.

It felt impossible.

It was scary getting in the van,

going to film with all these guys

and seeing if they would accept me as a person.

I feel like skateboarding has to grow.

Now, with the Olympics coming up,

it's such a good time for the women's side of things.

There's so much opportunity,

which wasn't there when I first started, which is amazing.

[Axel] You want to eat outside in the sun?

[Lizzie] Yeah, we can.

[Axel] I feel like that'd be nice.

[nail gun popping]

[distant chattering]

[Lizzie] We're getting a vert ramp

and it's really exciting.

I've never had a ramp before.

It's going to be as tall as the house

or a little bit taller.

It's like 10 foot high and you drop in

and then you do airs and stuff like Lizzie.

Like Axel.

This is me.

And then Lizzie goes high.

It's a cool ramp.

[Lizzie] Mh-hmm.

[sentimental music]

When I skate at contests

I go into tunnel vision and only focus on

where I'm at with my body and everything else doesn't exist.

I felt like that when I was doing The Loop.

[Producer] What is The Loop?

So, if you've ever seen a toy car track

goes up upside down and around,

except 14 feet tall and a lot more dangerous.

[crowd cheering]

[loud thud]

[loud crack] [crowd gasps]

[Announcer] All right, let's keep that applause going.

Come on.

[Spectator] Yes!

[crowd cheering]

I didn't let myself judge The Loop

before I did it.

I didn't look up any of the slams before

'cause I just, in my head I was like, That's not possible.

If I'm going to do this thing

there's only one outcome and it's going to work out.

[loud thud] [crowd groans]

[Announcer] We've got some of the best medical staff here.

Lizzie didn't tell me

that she was going to be doing The Loop.

I don't know.

There's so many things that are built up

between parents and children about letting people down.

[loud thud]

Just super emotional for me as a mom,

to know that your own child

is doing something that she loves

and that she's going to achieve much more

because it's on her plate.

Lizzie doesn't look at herself as a female skateboarder.

She looks at herself as being a skateboarder.

[crowd cheers]

[Crowd Member] Best thing we did today.

[Crowd Member 2] Amazing! Easily

[Crowd Member 3] Oh my God!

[Tony Hawk] Yeah! We fucking did a loop!

[Tony cheering]

Welcome to the big leagues, sweetheart.

[group cheering]

Getting to see myself on the cover of Thrasher Magazine

was so crazy to me.

In my lifetime,

there was like one other person to get the cover

that was a female.

It almost didn't feel possible.

Getting a pro board and Tony surprising me was so cool too,

because I think every little kid imagines,

it would be so cool to be a pro skateboarder.

And the christening moment of that

is getting a board with your name on it.

[audience applauds]

[Finnish language]

We are crazy about Olympics.

Okay, you're one of the best.

So what are you going to promise to the Finnish people?

At least say what you're trying to achieve.

Well, I'm confident that I'll make it to the Olympics

and we'll see how it goes.

[Tony groans]

Try again.

That's what skateboarding's all about

is keep trying.

Fear, it's something you make up.

The more you can break it down in your head,

the less it exists.

So sometimes even saying, Oh, this looks scary.

You're already stopping yourself

from getting to the next step.

Success.

You got into skating when it was popular,

but it was still considered very underground,

very counter-culture.

And now, you're at the precipice of going to an event,

representing a country.

And that is not what anyone had imagined back then.

But I think it's cool that you get to see that transition

and that you get to be part of it

because it was bound to happen.

Skateboarding's far more popular than most Olympic sports.

When you're going up to this

is your approach way different

because this is the biggest stage?

[Lizzie] I've done skating contests

and this is another contest.

It's still skateboarding for me.

[gentle music]