Aussie skateboarding gem Ruby Trew pumped for Paris after Tokyo Olympics heartbreak

MELBOURNE – Three years after Covid-19 dashed Ruby Trew’s Tokyo Olympics dream, the teen skateboarder from Sydney’s Northern Beaches is determined to make up for lost time at the Paris Games.

Ruby was part of a team of Australian skaters who were summarily disqualified from a 2021 Olympic qualifying event in the United States after several among the group tested positive for the virus. Those who tested negative were also ruled out because they were deemed close contacts.

It was a bitter end for Ruby’s Tokyo tilt, but the setback has helped fuel the 15-year-old for a delayed Games debut in Paris.

“Knowing how close I was to Tokyo and watching the final knowing I could have been there, it was pretty disappointing,” she said on May 23, nearly three years to the day since the heartbreak in the United States.

“So I can’t wait to get to Paris. Without having Covid now, it’s completely different. And being able to mix with other skaters is great.”

Ruby, who skates goofy-footed, is not yet confirmed to be on Australia’s Olympic team but her qualification is a formality.

Ranked sixth in the world in park skateboarding, Ruby needs to only drop in at the final event of an Olympic qualifying series in Budapest, Hungary, in June to book her Paris ticket.

She is nonetheless training furiously, spending five hours a day at skate parks in Sydney and more time in the ocean as one of Australia's top junior surfers.

It is a regimen Ruby admits can be tough to maintain on certain days when feeling exhausted.

She would normally be juggling practice and competition with homework but has taken a break from high school to focus on the Games.

“For now, I’m just travelling around the world and getting ready for (Paris),” she said.

Such is the life of a skating prodigy in a sport renowned for child champions.

Japan’s Momiji Nishiya claimed gold in the women’s street category at Tokyo Games as a 13-year-old.

Ruby’s 14-year-old Australian teammate Arisa Trew – no relation – is also in line to skate in Paris, having shot up to world No. 2 in the park category after winning a qualifier in Shanghai on May 19.

The novelty of two teenage Trews on the same team is not lost on Ruby, who said people sometimes confuse them.

“We tell everyone we’re cousins. And actually we hang out a lot together. I love Arisa, she’s great. Maybe if we did genetic testing, there might be some relation, but I don’t know,” she said.

Along with skateboarding, surfing made its Olympic debut at Tokyo and the Paris Games tournament will be held at Tahiti’s famous break, Teahupo’o.

Trew can imagine becoming an Olympic surfer some day, maybe as soon as the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. After all, she has her whole life ahead of her.

“For the moment, I’m focusing on skating but I’ll see how I go. Whether I want to skate at LA or surf, I’ll work it out later,” she said. REUTERS