Letícia Bufoni e Silva (born April 13, 1993)[1] is a Brazilian-American[2] professional streetskateboarder. She is a six-time X Games gold medalist.[3]
Early life
Bufoni was born in São Paulo.[1] She began skating at age nine,[4] and her grandmother bought her first skateboard when she was 11.[5]
"I grew up in the street playing sports all the time. We didn't have computers, no smartphones. All of the kids started skating, so I did too."[6]
"My dad broke my board so I wouldn't skate anymore. I started to skateboard when I was nine years old; I was skating with all the guys in my neighborhood, and he was mad at me because I was the only girl in the middle of 10 guys. He smashed my board in front of me and said; You're not skating anymore, ever again."[7] Her father eventually relented.[6]
At the age of 14, Bufoni moved to the United States with older friends.[8] She attended Hollywood High School, but left after missing so much school that she was in danger of being expelled.[9]
Career
In 2007, Bufoni competed in her first X Games at the age of 14 in Los Angeles.[9]
She is a five-time X Games gold medalist. She tied Elissa Steamer's decade-old record for most gold in Women's SKB Street with her win at XG Shanghai 2019. Overall she earned six straight medals in X Games Women's SKB Street (2010–2014) and the title at Shanghai 2019.[10]
She has become one of the world's best-known and most influential action sports athletes.[10]
Bufoni was ranked the #1 women's street skateboarder by World Cup of Skateboarding four years in a row 2010–2013 and appeared in [11] The Guinness Book of World Records (2017) for the "Most Wins Of The World Cup of Skateboarding. In 2013, she was nominated for an ESPY Award – Best Female Action Sports Athlete.
In 2018, Forbes named Bufoni one of The Most Powerful Women In International Sports for 2018 (#25)[15] and made Sports Pro Media's list for The World's Most Marketable Athletes for 2018 (#41).[16] Further in 2018, she was named to the Forbes Brazil "Under 30" list.[17]
In 2022, Bufoni set a world record (verified by Guinness World Records) for highest skateboard grind outside the back of a flying aircraft. This happened when the aircraft was flying over Merced, California. A video of this went viral in 2023. The aircraft was a C-130 transport plane, and was flying at an altitude of 9,022 feet when Bufoni did the skateboard grind.[18]
Bufoni is the official athlete representative for World Skate, the International Olympic Committee-recognized governing body for Skateboarding.[10]
Racing
A racing fan since her youth, Bufoni raced go-karts at a track on the parking lot of the Shopping Aricanduva mall, which was located near a skate park that she grew up on. She eventually stopped to focus on skateboarding when she moved to America,[19][20] but occasionally dabbled in supercar racing when available.[21][22] She built a drift car in 2020.[19]
In 2022, as she scaled back her skating career to focus on other projects, she began racing in Nitro Rallycross' side-by-side class.[19] Despite racing without practice, Bufoni finished seventh and sixth in her first weekend at ERX Motor Park.[23][24] She ran the full 2023–24 Nitrocross SxS season and placed fifth in points.[25]
Bufoni made her desert racing at the NORRA 500 in October 2023, where she shared a modified Nissan Frontier with Chris Forsberg. The two won the Stock Production class.[26]
Personal life
On April 7, 2021, Bufoni became a citizen of the United States.[27]
Competitions
2015 – 1st Place: Far'n High Women's Finals – Paris, France
Bufoni is a playable character in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. She also appears in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, an enhanced remake of the first two Pro Skater games with an updated roster of playable skaters.
