“I started skateboarding when I was eight years old. Now, at 14, I’m heading to the Olympics”

I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I wanted to compete in track and field. I’d seen the races on TV, so I started doing cross-country running in the first grade. Then, in 2018, when I was eight years old, my parents took me to a free skateboarding lesson near the Danforth hosted by Impact Skate Club. When I stepped on the board, I had this weird feeling that I’d done it before. I quickly learned how to do tic tacs, a foundational trick where you change directions. It was exciting and comforting at the same time.

Related: Soccer star Quinn on how Canada’s women’s team plans to defend their gold medal

I bought a board right after that lesson and started skating around my driveway. I loved it so much that I wanted to skateboard all the time. I frequented the skateparks in East York, Ashbridges Bay and Vanderhoof, and I improved quickly. There were days where I’d skate for 10 hours at a time. I also took lessons with Yash Presswalla, the founder and executive director at Impact Skate Club. Eventually, I started participating in local competitions in Toronto. I didn’t feel any pressure to win—I just enjoyed skating with everybody.

My first big competition was in July of 2019, when I was nine: the Montreal stop of the Vans Park Series. I thought going to Montreal in the summer sounded fun, plus I was eager to get more experience. I saw so many great skaters there, including a lot of other girls. It was really inspiring, especially since in the Toronto competitions, I’d mostly been competing against boys who were older than me.

That summer, the national skateboarding organization Canada Skateboard reached out to me. They were relatively new at the time and had just started following me on Instagram. There weren’t many female park skaters, especially ones who were as young as me, so they invited me to compete in the World Skateboarding Championships in São Paulo, Brazil.

Even though I’d seen some great skaters in Montreal, there were even better skaters in Brazil. My focus was still on having fun, but for the first time I felt a little stressed. I remember standing on the deck before they opened up the bowl for practice and realizing that I was one of the smallest people there. They let the guys and girls warm up at the same time, and I felt a little scared about hitting someone. I only got up the courage to skate across the bowl once during the practice time. In the end, I placed 53rd, which didn’t feel great.

But, despite my placement, Canada Skateboard noticed that I was improving quickly. In 2019, they asked me to join Canada’s first national skateboard team—the same year that skateboarding was set to make its Olympic debut. Knowing that being in the Olympics was a possibility really re-energized me. I represented Canada at the World Skate Olympic qualifiers in Rio de Janeiro. But, by then, I’d missed a lot of the Olympic qualifying events, and others were cancelled because of Covid. In the end, I didn’t qualify.

When the qualifying season for the next Olympics started up, in 2023, I was way more prepared. I still have fun skating, but I train consistently, usually a few hours after school, six days a week. I skate for shorter periods but in a more focused way. Right from the beginning, my sights were set on making it to Paris 2024.

I competed in Olympic qualifying contests all over the world: in the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and Rome. In March of 2024, I went to Dubai for an Olympic qualifier where I didn’t do as well as I wanted. I just wasn’t very confident in that competition, and that bothered me. People don’t really talk about the stress that comes with competing at this level. If I don’t perform well, I almost forget about the little kid in me who just enjoys skateboarding. That’s when I need to remind myself: this is what I love to do. I brought that attitude to the next few competitions, and I did better. It helps to hear other people cheering for me, like my mom and my coach, Adam Hopkins. Seeing how proud they are of my skating makes it feel easier.

Related: Toronto’s most root-worthy Olympics athletes touching down in Paris this month

I went to the semi-final qualifiers in Shanghai in May. Again, I got nervous during the practice period—I started tearing up when I realized I had only 30 minutes left to prepare. But then my new confidence kicked in. I told myself that every minute counted, and that’s when I knew I was going to do well. I ended up placing 15th, which was a really big deal. It meant I had a pretty good shot at qualifying for the Olympics.

The final event was in Budapest in June. But, during practice, I hit my foot really hard and couldn’t walk on it. We went to the hospital and got an X-ray, and thankfully it wasn’t broken. On the day of the competition, we just taped it up, and I put aside my more advanced tricks in favour of a run I knew I could more easily land. Still, it hurt, and I landed only one of my three skates. I placed 23rd, but I hoped it would still be enough to get me through to the Olympics.

They held a closing ceremony, and all of the girls gathered together while they announced the 22 skaters who were going to Paris. I heard my name called while we were all huddling, and everyone started jumping. I was so excited. I called my dad and my brother that night to tell them the news.

Competing as a skateboarder isn’t easy. I’ve been growing the whole time I’ve been skateboarding, and sometimes, after a growth spurt, certain tricks will be more difficult because my body has changed. It can be really frustrating. Training in Canada is hard too, especially in the winter. There aren’t a lot of skating facilities. Sometimes I go to California for a week or two to train, but between those trips and my competitions abroad, I miss a lot of school. The course load is heavier now that I’m in grade nine, so it can be hard to find a good balance.

Thankfully, my family and my teachers have been really supportive. My mom travels everywhere with me, and she always makes sure we do a few non-skateboarding activities. I try to keep up my other hobbies, like drawing, sculpture and playing ukulele. I also love hanging out with my pets when I’m at home—two ducks and a little budgie. I always wear a feather from my duck Richard in my helmet when I compete, for good luck. A lot of people comment on it, and now they expect to see it when I skate.

In the lead-up to Paris, I’ve been talking to my coaches and performance psychologist a lot, plus training every day. My routine is a 30-minute bike ride every morning, followed by stretching and a session at my local skate park. I’ve also spent some time at a training camp in California with my coach.

I sometimes think about what it would be like to win. I know my speed and my tricks are solid, it’s just the stress that gets to me sometimes. Mostly, though, I’m focusing on appreciating the opportunity and performing at my own personal best. I know the eight-year-old kid who started this skateboarding journey would be so proud of where I am now. I wanted to dedicate myself to skateboarding, and that’s what I’ve done. I’m excited to bring my love of this sport all the way to Paris—along with my signature feather, of course.