Growing up in São Paulo, the young Leticia Bufoni was always outside, riding her bike, playing football or skateboarding. Her father, however, wasn't too keen on the skateboarding side of things.
"My view was the view that the entire society had of skateboarding," he says. "It used to be prohibited, and there was a time when the police would arrest skateboarders, etc."
When she continued to skate behind her dad's back, he'd eventually reach breaking point – quite literally. Skateboard met saw and Bufoni's budding career hit its first bump in the road.
Be sure to download the free Red Bull TV app and catch the skateboarding action on all your devices! Get the app here
The big picture:
To frame the story in this way casts Bufoni's father as a bit of an ogre, which isn't fair on him. She was simply a precociously talented young athlete with a successful future ahead of her in either football or skateboarding. Brazil is a footballing nation like no other, but it's only in relatively recent years that its skate scene has started to make big waves on the international stage.
So, her dad was involved, he was supportive, but he simply loved football and didn't understand skateboarding. He tried to forbid her from doing it, but that wasn't enough: she'd still come home with scrapes and bruises. Eventually he snapped, took hold of her board and cut it in half. "It was one of the saddest moments of my life," Bufoni claims, but she was soon back up and at it with renewed determination.
"That didn't stop me. He can't forbid me from skateboarding," she says, and before the end of the day, she'd built herself a new board.
The turning point:
Not long after this incident, Bufoni was set to take part in her first proper contest: held in her native São Paulo, but featuring girls from all over Brazil. Her father still wasn't keen, however, digging his heels in.
Fortunately for Bufoni and, it's probably fair to say, for skateboarding in general, she won. Her father was able to get behind her skateboarding and the conflict was resolved.
Everything happens in Los Angeles and it was always my dream city
When Bufoni was 14, she was invited to take part in the X Games in Los Angeles. Opportunities don't come much bigger than that in the world of skateboarding. But it was by no means certain that she'd be able to attend. "We were going through a very hard time financially," her father explains, but he was in no doubt that she should go: "We had to find a way to get the money."
She ended up in eighth place, picking up a couple of sponsors along the way, but even more significantly, she convinced her family to let her stay in the USA. She gave up everything she knew to follow her dream. “Everything happens in Los Angeles and it was always my dream city,” she says. “You’re skating with the best pros and skating the best skateparks.”
The example:
Over a decade on from that big decision and it's clear that it was the right one. Bufoni is a role model: she has five X-Games gold medals to her name and over three million fans on her social channels. She's on the Plan B pro team and the first-ever women’s Street League Super Crown champion. It's not an overstatement to say she's helped change the game for female skateboarders.
What she really is, though, is the perfect example of why talent is nothing without dedication, without the perseverance to make the most of it. How many other young Bufonis are out there who didn't make the le
With your consent, this website shall use additional cookies (including third party cookies) or similar technologies to make our site work, for marketing purposes and to improve your online experience.
You can revoke your consent via the Cookie Settings in the footer of the website at any time. Further information can be found in our Privacy Policy and in the Cookie Settings directly below.
Privacy Preference Center
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Performance
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Third Party Content Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by third-party providers of third-party content that is embedded on our site. They may be used by those companies to load, display, or in other ways to enable you to use that content. As this third-party content is provided by autonomous companies on their own responsibility, those companies may also use these cookies for their own additional purposes, such as marketing. Please refer to the privacy policies of those companies for that information. If you do not allow these cookies, you will not be able to use this third-party content embedded on our site, such as videos, music, or maps.