NEWCASTLE High School student Poppy Starr Olsen is the number one female skateboarder in the world after winning the 2016 Vans Girls Combi Pool in Anaheim, California.
Poppy, 15, competed against women in their 20s in the event on January 23.
It was her first competition since she “went pro”.
Poppy’s mother, Thomas Olsen, cried with joy when she made the finals.
“She went pro, and all she wanted to do was make it into the finals,” Thomas said.
“She qualified third for the finals, so I went to the pub. It was as if she’d already won.
“Poppy had already done so much better than we had expected.”
Channel Seven travelled with them to capture footage for an upcoming episode of Sunday Night, expected to air on February 28.
Each competitor has four “runs” in the Combi bowl event, but only one counts.
“Poppy landed this first brilliant run, and then she fell on the next three,” Thomas said. “She did so well. I cried. Poppy didn’t think she would make the podium, so she was just having fun and going for it.
“There was no fear, no pressure. She wanted to do well and she was trying, but there was no worrying about making the podium.”
The last time Poppy competed at the event as an amateur in January 2015, she was “kissed by the Combi bowl” and needed stitches after falling during a practice run.
Poppy has been invited to skate in the men’s pro event, Bowl-A-Rama, in Bondi on February 20 and 21.
She will also compete in the Australian Bowl Riding Championships in Newcastle on February 27 and 28.
When the Herald spoke to Poppy in October, the skateboarder had been wary of going professional.
“She has seen the opportunities coming towards her now, whether that is because she won or has gone pro, but people do tend to take you a bit more seriously because you have decided to step up and compete with the best in the world,” Thomas said.
“But she was terrified.
“She was very happy to sit where she was, but she knew it was time.
“She’d won the under-14s, she’d won the over-15s, and been world champion for the yearly point score as well for both of those, so it was time she tackled something bigger.”
Poppy travels to Sydney up to twice a week to train on a vertical skateboard ramp.
She will compete at Vert Attack, one of the largest vertical ramp events in the world, in Sweden in April.
“On the way we’re stopping at Dubai, which has a new enormous skate park called X-Dubai, and she’ll be doing some demos there,” Thomas said.
“Poppy also does a lot of positive, motivational speaking in high schools about believing in yourself.”