Alana Smith (USA) will be the youngest female rider invited to X Games Barcelona, competing in Women’s Skateboard Park next week. At 12 years old Alana is already setting records for women’s skating while simultaneously beating the boys. Last November she was the first female to ever land a McTwist in competition and recently she beat out 140 guys in the PHX AM Street Competition. Alana was both surprised and stoked to be invited to X Games Barcelona this year, “It’s insane, I’ve always dreamed of getting chosen for X Games, I never imagined it would be in another country,” she said. “I really thought that it would be close in my future like maybe when I was 15. I never thought I would be considered now at 12.”
Based in Arizona, Alana trains at Kids That Rip, a skateboard school with one of the most progressive training facilities available. Here she skates in good company alongside young guns Jagger Eaton and Trey Wood who made their X Games debut last summer at X Games Los Angeles taking on the Mega Ramp. Although we won’t see Alana on the Mega this year don’t be surprised if she sets a women’s skate record on the Mega one day as well, as she gets her bearings on the Mega Ramp at Woodward. “[I like] the adrenaline rush of going fast and high… it’s also fun that all my friends skate it too. I wish more girls would skate it with me.”
X Games Barcelona kicks off May 16th as the fourth stop of Global X Games 2013, watch 12-year-old Alana Smith compete in the Women’s Skateboard Park competition against eight top women skaters including X Games Brazil Gold Medalist Leticia Bufoni and legends Elissa Steamer and Mimi Knoop.
STORY BY: Jenna Goldberg
Photos courtesy of Kids That Rip