Aussie 13-year-old skateboard prodigies pull off stunning performances at X Games… setting a 29-year first ahead of Paris Olympics tilt next year

A pair of prodigious 13-year-old Gold Coast skateboarding stars have stunned the world by winning their first gold medals at the X Games, setting up a tilt at the Paris Olympics next year.

Chloe Covell got all Australian skateboarders animated with a flawless performance, winning the women’s Street competition, with Arisa Trew then claiming the women’s Vert title at the coastal Ventura County Fairgrounds in California. 

Trew had to create history to win and had to stare the almost unimaginable 720 in the face if she were to win the competition.

Composed, she calmly pulled it off to hold out Canadian wonderkid, 10-year-old Reese Nelson, who claimed silver to become the youngest medalist in the X Games’ 29-year history.

A delighted Vert gold medal winner Aussie Arisa Trew

And speaking of youngest in things, Covell became the youngest winner in the women’s X Games’ Street skating discipline by beating a strong field including Olympic gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan and Brazilian star Leticia Bufoni.

Covell is regarded the best in the world and she improved at these X Games from her silver medal in California last year in the X Games, becoming the youngest skater with two podium finishes in the competition’s history.

But that move by Trew to win her gold was sensational. She is now proving a master at the 720.

She was the first female ever to perform it recently in a meet in Utah, then casually pulled it out again to win in the X Games. 

Covell pulled out all her tricks to win gold including a flawless performance to claim the Street gold

Australian teen Chloe Covell stuns the world with win in the Street Final at 2023 X Games

Trew’s impressive final run also included a heel flip down a flight of stairs and a 50-50 kickflip.

If both girls stay as they are they will be favoured for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The sport made its Olympic debut in Tokyo with two different disciplines: street and park, about 70 years or so after skateboarding was born out of the boredom of Southern California surfers.

Covell and Trew, keeping the flame going in Australia are from the surfing hub of Queensland in the Gold Coast. 

Skateboarding has morphed into something much more than just a recreational activity now – and they will hopefully prove that at the Paris Olympics next year.