Naya Laso, the record for precocity born on a skateboard | Paris 2024 Olympics

Naya Laso was still three months away from being born, on November 19, 2008, in Bermeo (Bizkaia), when that summer Rafa Nadal won gold at the Beijing Games, Saul Craviotto stood atop the podium in the K2 500, and Rudy Fernandez left behind a poster of his dunk on Dwight Howard in the Olympic basketball final against the United States. And yet, despite this generation gap, skater The 15th anniversary will coincide with three myths of the Paris Games, where he will become…

Naya Laso was still three months away from being born, on November 19, 2008, in Bermeo (Bizkaia), when that summer Rafa Nadal won gold at the Beijing Games, Saul Craviotto stood atop the podium in the K2 500, and Rudy Fernandez left behind a poster of his dunk on Dwight Howard in the Olympic basketball final against the United States. And yet, despite this generation gap, skater Turning 15 will coincide with three myths at the Paris Games, where she will be the youngest athlete among the 382 athletes in the Spanish delegation. “It’s something incredible,” Naya explains to EL PAÍS from California, where she is still focused on preparing for the competition.

The record for early maturity is due to discipline, skatewhich debuted in Tokyo and is a children’s sport. Next on the list of youngest is her partner Natalia Muñoz, just a few days older than her (she was born on September 26), and if she had managed to reach the podium, Lazo would have become the youngest Spanish individual medalist in history. Olympic Already at the last Games gold in the exercise Street (similar to skating on the street, between railings and boxes) was noted by Japanese Momiji Nishiya when she was only 13 years old, and won silver in a park (they compete on ramps and in pools) went to his compatriot Kokona Hiraki, a year younger. The youngest Spanish athlete to compete in an Olympic Games was swimmer Antonia Real, who was 12 years, 10 months and six days old when she jumped into the Montreal pool in 1976.

All Naya Laso’s shyness to talk, to tell about her short life turns into self-confidence and courage on skates. She started at the age of seven, imitating her brother’s games in the park, at 12 she was already the champion of Spain, and at 14 – fifth in her first world championship. At 15, he will be in Paris after a good scare. skater He rose to fifth in the rankings after winning the world stage in Dubai in March, but broke his left collarbone in a collision with another player. rider in training for the pre-Olympic Games in Shanghai in May. In that competition and the next qualifying event, in Budapest in June, Laso barely made it to the jump to score the minimum number of points and thus secure a ticket to the Games.

The injury has largely healed, although the build-up has been slower than the rest of the Spanish squad, which includes Naya Laso, Giulia Benedetti, Danny Leon and Alain Cortabitarte. a parkand Natalia Munoz in StreetThe group, coached by Alain Goicoechea, focused on 12 days in California, where there are more opportunities and better conditions, while Laso extended his stay there by a week to regain some of the ground he had lost.

“I love the feeling of freedom in skateboarding, skating with friends and doing tricks until it works for all of us. For me, it’s a way of expressing myself,” says the young woman, who also surfed and skied as a child, has just finished her fourth year at ESO and will be heading to high school. That will be after the Paris Games, where he hopes to spring a surprise. He skatewhich had its Olympic premiere in Tokyo (Giulia Benedetti and Danny Leon were already there), is growing in Spain, and a national circuit, the Iberdrola Skate Series, has even been created to promote the practice. It is the birthplace of future Olympic children like Naya Laso.