Letícia Bufoni

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Letícia Bufoni
Personal information
Birth nameLetícia Bufoni e Silva
Born (1993-04-13) April 13, 1993 (age 31)[1]
São Paulo, Brazil
OccupationSkateboarder
Years active2002–present
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Weight97 lb (44 kg)
Sport
Country Brazil
SportSkateboarding
Turned pro2017
Medal record
Women's street skateboarding
Representing  Brazil
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Chicago Street
Silver medal – second place 2016 Los Angeles Street
Silver medal – second place 2017 Los Angeles Street
Silver medal – second place 2018 Rio de Janeiro Street
Summer X Games
Silver medal – second place 2010 Los Angeles Street
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Los Angeles Street
Silver medal – second place 2012 Los Angeles Street
Gold medal – first place 2013 Foz do Iguaçu Street
Gold medal – first place 2013 Barcelona Real Women
Gold medal – first place 2013 Los Angeles Street
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Austin Street
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Minneapolis Street
Gold medal – first place 2018 Norway Street
Silver medal – second place 2018 Sydney Street
Gold medal – first place 2019 Shanghai Street
Gold medal – first place 2021 California Street

Letícia Bufoni e Silva (born April 13, 1993)[1] is a Brazilian-American[2] professional street skateboarder. She is a six-time X Games gold medalist.[3]

Early life[edit]

Bufoni was born in São Paulo.[1] She began skating at age nine,[4] and her grandmother bought her first skateboard when she was 11.[5]

"I grew up in the street playing sports all the time. We didn't have computers, no smartphones. All of the kids started skating, so I did too."[6]

"My dad broke my board so I wouldn't skate anymore. I started to skateboard when I was nine years old; I was skating with all the guys in my neighborhood, and he was mad at me because I was the only girl in the middle of 10 guys. He smashed my board in front of me and said; You're not skating anymore, ever again."[7] Her father eventually relented.[6]

At the age of 14, Bufoni moved to the United States with older friends.[8] She attended Hollywood High School, but left after missing so much school that she was in danger of being expelled.[9]

Career[edit]

In 2007, Bufoni competed in her first X Games at the age of 14 in Los Angeles.[9]

She is a five-time X Games gold medalist. She tied Elissa Steamer's decade-old record for most gold in Women's SKB Street with her win at XG Shanghai 2019. Overall she earned six straight medals in X Games Women's SKB Street (2010–2014) and the title at Shanghai 2019.[10]

She has become one of the world's best-known and most influential action sports athletes.[10] Bufoni was ranked the #1 women's street skateboarder by World Cup of Skateboarding four years in a row 2010–2013 and appeared in [11] The Guinness Book of World Records (2017) for the "Most Wins Of The World Cup of Skateboarding. In 2013, she was nominated for an ESPY Award – Best Female Action Sports Athlete.

In 2015, she won the first Street League Skateboarding Women's SLS Super Crown World Championship in Chicago, IL.[12] She also appeared in the ESPN Magazine – The Body Issue.[13] She was also the first female skater to sign for Nike SB in 2015.[14]

In 2018, Forbes named Bufoni one of The Most Powerful Women In International Sports for 2018 (#25)[15] and made Sports Pro Media's list for The World's Most Marketable Athletes for 2018 (#41).[16] Further in 2018, she was named to the Forbes Brazil "Under 30" list.[17]

In 2022, Bufoni set a world record (verified by Guinness World Records) for highest skateboard grind outside the back of a flying aircraft. This happened when the aircraft was flying over Merced, California. A video of this went viral in 2023. The aircraft was a C-130 transport plane, and was flying at an altitude of 9,022 feet when Bufoni did the skateboard grind.[18]

Bufoni is the official athlete representative for World Skate, the International Olympic Committee-recognized governing body for Skateboarding.[10]

Personal life[edit]

On April 7, 2021, Bufoni became a citizen of the United States.[19]

Competitions[edit]

Awards[edit]

Nickelodeon 2016 Kids' Choice Sports – Queen Of Swag

Cartoon Network 2014 Hall of Game Awards – She Got Game

Video game appearances[edit]

Bufoni is a playable character in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. She also appears in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, an enhanced remake of the first two Pro Skater games with an updated roster of playable skaters.

Music video appearances[edit]

Bufoni plays a featured role in the music video for "Snapback" by Old Dominion.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "International Skateboarding Federation - Leticia Bufoni". Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  2. ^ "USCIS on LinkedIn: #NewUSCitizen | 13 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  3. ^ "FNDMNTLS - Leticia Bufoni". Beats by Dre. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  4. ^ Ain, Morty (July 6, 2015). "Skateboarder Leticia Bufoni bares all". espn.go.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Goyanes, Cristina (June 2, 2014). "Skateboarder Leticia Bufoni's Journey to the X Games Austin". shape.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "The "GIZMO" Interviews: Leticia Bufoni". www.thrashermagazine.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  7. ^ "Skateboarder Leticia Bufoni: 'I'm going to skate forever'". ESPN.com. July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "What It Takes to Be a Hard-Core Skateboarder". Shape. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Hendrixx, Eric (August 25, 2015). "Leticia Bufoni on the Perils of Skating Naked". rollingstone.com. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "Leticia Bufoni's official X Games athlete biography". X Games. Retrieved July 23, 2019.[dead link]
  11. ^ Book, Guinness (April 1, 2017). "Most wins World Cup Skateboarding World Rankings (Street, female)". guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  12. ^ League, Street (October 4, 2015). "Leticia Bufoni Makes History As The First Womens Super Crown Champ". streetleague.com. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  13. ^ Ain, Morty (July 6, 2015). "Leticia Bufoni: 'I'm going to skate forever'". espn.com. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  14. ^ Jacqui Palumbo. "New York's radical female and non-binary skateboarders -- in photos". CNN. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Glass, Alana (March 27, 2015). "The Most Powerful Women In International Sports". forbes.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  16. ^ Long, Michael (September 5, 2018). "Paul Pogba named world's most marketable athlete of 2018". Sportspromedia.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  17. ^ Magazine, Forbes (December 19, 2018). "10 destaques brasileiros abaixo dos 30 anos". forbes.uol.com.br. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  18. ^ Gardner, Steve. "Skateboarder Leticia Bufoni sets world record with jump from plane at 9,000 feet". USA TODAY.
  19. ^ "USCIS on LinkedIn: #NewUSCitizen". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.

External links[edit]