'She shreds': Skateboarding girls up their game at California contest

ENCINITAS, California : In the bowls and street skating ledges and rails of U.S. skate parks, women and girls exude pride over their increasingly impressive skateboarding skills and say even the guys who have long dominated the sport are taking notice.

At the 12th annual Exposure Skate competition this month in the California beach town of Encinitas, girls under 10 and in their teens were shredding. That's skateboard lingo for aggressive and skilled skating.

"They are really getting good," said Cona Suganami, 16, a Californian who has been skateboarding for five years.

"I hope girls' skateboarding improves even more and we can push each other and beat the boys," Suganami added with a laugh.

For Exposure co-founder Amelia Brodka, long-ignored skateboarding girls got a golden opportunity to shine when they competed for the first time in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she competed for Poland.

"It was like the guys finally started watching the girls and they were shocked at the level of skateboarding and the rate of progression," said Brodka.

Japanese women won four of the six Olympic medals, including the two golds, in Park and Street competitions.

When Exposure started 12 years ago, Brodka said there were few opportunities to skate, no sponsorships, no visibility in skateboard media. "Now they are finally starting to pay attention," she said.

Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, who lives in the area, said "support for women in skateboarding and their level of skating has exploded in recent years."

"We need to highlight events like Exposure to acknowledge that women's skateboarding is exciting, highly advanced, and here to stay," Hawk told Reuters.

Parents of the skateboarding girls are equally stoked by the expertise and