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13-Year-Old Skateboarder Becomes the First Girl to Land a 720 Trick

By Margherita Cole on June 30, 2023

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A post shared by Arisa Trew (@arisa_trew)

This June was a historic time for skateboarding. Not only did it mark 24 years since the iconic Tony Hawk landed a 900 skateboarding trick—which is two and a half turns in the air—but this month also heralded a new star in the sport. Arisa Trew, a 13-year-old from Australia, was competing at Hawk's Vert Alert competition in Salt Lake City when she landed a spectacular 720 (two full rotations in the air), making her the first female skateboarder to ever land the trick.

A 720 was performed for the first time by Hawk himself in 1985. Trew received tips from the American athlete prior to stepping out onto the ramp. The video of her completing the trick was also the first time she ever did it successfully. Trew ended up winning the women's final at Vert Alert and taking home a portion of the $75,000 shared prize.

Vert Alert is a competition for vert (short for vertical) skateboarding, which requires the use of a ramp or half pipe. It was debuted by Tony Hawk three years ago, after women's vert was dropped by ESPN. Now, Hawk's event serves as a qualifier for the annual X Games in California, which includes men's and women's vert. “I’m just trying to give vert more of a venue and more of a voice in the world of skateboarding,” Hawk says. “And this event is exactly that.”

Clearly, Trew is already making the most of the platform with her stunning record, and we look forward to seeing what she does next.