Rayssa Leal aims for fourth SLS 2025 title with Japanese dominance in SP

Summary
Rayssa Leal competed in the first day of the SLS Super Crown in São Paulo, where the Japanese dominated qualifying and the Brazilians failed to advance to the final; the decision takes place this Sunday.

The Ibirapuera gymnasium, in São Paulo, can boast, this weekend, of the highest level of skateboarding in the world: this Saturday, eight skaters — four men and four women — won the last places for the big decision of the SLS Super Crown, the end of the international league season.

Stadium of decision for the third year in a row, the arena welcomed thousands of supporters this Saturday 6, for the playoffs of the last SLS stage of the year. Even though she had already qualified for Sunday’s final, Rayssa Leal attended the qualifiers and supported her friends as they battled for a spot in the final.

At 17, the Maranhão native is fighting to win her fourth consecutive championship. She has already made history by being the first three-time Super Crown champion, having won the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions, and is looking to extend her reign in the sport.

Rayssa also participated in the women’s training before the preliminaries, risked some maneuvers, had some falls, but above all had fun and met the fans, with photos and autographs, in the stands.

When the women’s competition began in earnest, the Japanese showed once again why they were the trend in international skateboarding. Five Japanese names reached the Super Crown and four took the final places in the decider: Coco Yoshizawa, Liz Akama, Yumeka Oda and Funa Nakayama.

Coco, who is also the sport’s current Olympic champion, took first place in qualifying after successfully completing the final maneuver and earning the highest total, 29.9 points. At Earthwith the help of a translator, she spoke about the anticipation of facing Rayssa Leal and the challenges of the grand final: “I have to do my best, there are some maneuvers that I lowered the level of, so tomorrow I will do the maneuver better, I will do it well, I will prepare better.”

On the other hand, two Brazilians participated in the round, but failed to qualify: Duda Ribeiro and veteran Gabi Mazetto. At EarthMazetto commented on the elimination and said: “There are days when we get it right the first time, and others where it takes more than half an hour.”

The four Japanese women will face the final of the SLS Super Crown on Sunday against Rayssa Leal and Australian Chloe Covell, also directly qualified for the decision, alongside the Brazilian.

“Skateboarding has its ups and downs,” says Gabi Mazetto after her SLS Super Crown elimination:

The Brazilians fall in a round

In the afternoon, it was the men’s turn to take action and, as with the women, the Japanese athletes dominated the three qualifying rounds for the final. Sora Shirai, Kairi Netsuke, Ginwoo Onodera and Peruvian Angelo Caro obtained all four available rankings.

Four Brazilians participated in the competition, but did not obtain enough scores to advance to the final: Felipe Gustavo, Filipe Mota, Carlos Ribeiro and Gabryel Aguilar.

With this result, Shirai, Netsuke, Onodera and Caro join Brazilian Giovanni Vianna and Nyjah Nuston in the SLS Super Crown final on Sunday.

Sunday schedule

The action returns to the SLS Super Crown on Sunday morning the 7th, at 9am, with the gates opening. The first training session starts at 9:15am. The first final, for women, will take place at 11:15 a.m.

Finally, the men take to the track for the last decision of the season at 2 p.m. In both conflicts, six skaters are fighting to determine the grand champion of the 2025 SLS season.

Breaking the taboo: the public debunks skateboarder stereotypes at the SLS Super Crown: