Women's Skateboard Park: Allysha, Brighton and Lizzie
Women's Park returns
For the third time in X Games history, Women's Skateboard Park will be contested at X Games Austin 2016, and with a wide range of young competitors, the field is only getting deeper. Recently, XGames.com teamed up with skate photographer Brian Shamanski to showcase the range of competitors invited to X Games Austin, including Allysha Bergado, Lizzie Armanto and Brighton Zeuner. Here's an inside look at life outside of X Games, beginning with Brighton Zeuner, who will make her X Games debut in Austin.
For the third time in X Games history, Women's Skateboard Park will be contested at X Games Austin 2016, and with a wide range of young competitors, the field is only getting deeper. Recently, XGames.com teamed up with skate photographer Brian Shamanski to showcase the range of competitors invited to X Games Austin, including Allysha Bergado, Lizzie Armanto and Brighton Zeuner. Here's an inside look at life outside of X Games, beginning with Brighton Zeuner, who will make her X Games debut in Austin.
Holding her own
Last summer, Women's Skateboard Park invite Allysha Bergado was invited on the Packed Van tour for The Skateboard Mag, the only female skater of 11 invites. Bergado joined transition greats such as Chris Russell, Jimmy Wilkins and Alex Perelson, and naturally, she held her own and skated each stop with precision. Here, she frontside airs the channel at the Winton, Oregon skatepark.
Last summer, Women's Skateboard Park invite Allysha Bergado was invited on the Packed Van tour for The Skateboard Mag, the only female skater of 11 invites. Bergado joined transition greats such as Chris Russell, Jimmy Wilkins and Alex Perelson, and naturally, she held her own and skated each stop with precision. Here, she frontside airs the channel at the Winton, Oregon skatepark.
Channeling vert skills
Fellow Women's Skateboard Park competitor Brighton Zeuner has a backyard vert ramp that she doesn't keep secret. Here, Allysha Bergado channels a lien air over it. Yes, vert skills translate easily to any type of transitioned park.
Fellow Women's Skateboard Park competitor Brighton Zeuner has a backyard vert ramp that she doesn't keep secret. Here, Allysha Bergado channels a lien air over it. Yes, vert skills translate easily to any type of transitioned park.
The elite
This was the first time Allysha Bergado had done a one-footed invert since the late night session at Rumble in Ramona last year. This version, shot in Lincoln City, Oregon at Mark "Red" Scott's gigantic bowl, proves that Bergado is among the elite legion of women skateboarders poised to take over the expanding realms of women's skatepark and vert skating.
This was the first time Allysha Bergado had done a one-footed invert since the late night session at Rumble in Ramona last year. This version, shot in Lincoln City, Oregon at Mark "Red" Scott's gigantic bowl, proves that Bergado is among the elite legion of women skateboarders poised to take over the expanding realms of women's skatepark and vert skating.
New invites
"Skateboarding, BBQ and Sixth Street all in one weekend? I'm in," said Brighton Zeuner following her invite to compete at X Games Austin 2016. Zeuner, who is always working on new tricks, recently learned backside boneless' on vert and of course, they look stylish.
"Skateboarding, BBQ and Sixth Street all in one weekend? I'm in," said Brighton Zeuner following her invite to compete at X Games Austin 2016. Zeuner, who is always working on new tricks, recently learned backside boneless' on vert and of course, they look stylish.
It's a make
According to photographer Brian Shamanski, "This was the first fakie ollie Brighton ever landed over the channel in her backyard ramp. I love this for two reasons. First, the look in her face (focus, determination and maybe just a little bit of fear). Second, it's a make, and in this day and age, it's not as common as you may think."
According to photographer Brian Shamanski, "This was the first fakie ollie Brighton ever landed over the channel in her backyard ramp. I love this for two reasons. First, the look in her face (focus, determination and maybe just a little bit of fear). Second, it's a make, and in this day and age, it's not as common as you may think."
Feeble to fakie
Women's Skateboard Park will be the youngest field at X Games Austin 2016, and it's the only discipline at Austin 2016 with an average age in the teens. Seven of the 12 athletes are age 19 or less, including 11-year-old Brighton Zeuner (pictured here), who has a legit chance to break Alana Smith's record for youngest X Games medalist.
Women's Skateboard Park will be the youngest field at X Games Austin 2016, and it's the only discipline at Austin 2016 with an average age in the teens. Seven of the 12 athletes are age 19 or less, including 11-year-old Brighton Zeuner (pictured here), who has a legit chance to break Alana Smith's record for youngest X Games medalist.
Among the best
Lizzie Armanto, now 23, is among the best female transition skaters in the game and is fresh off a win at Sweden's Vert Attack X in April. She also logged a solid third-place finish at the Girls Combi Pool Classic in January. She is one of the very few female skateboarders to make her living exclusively from the sport, and her Andrecht plants are pretty sweet too.
Lizzie Armanto, now 23, is among the best female transition skaters in the game and is fresh off a win at Sweden's Vert Attack X in April. She also logged a solid third-place finish at the Girls Combi Pool Classic in January. She is one of the very few female skateboarders to make her living exclusively from the sport, and her Andrecht plants are pretty sweet too.
Cooling off
"It's not like any other event that we do," Lizzie Armanto says of X Games. "For a lot of the girls, it's like that destination that they want to get to. It's something to work toward and strive toward, and that's why I think it's really positive for the girls to be a part of it and have our event back." Here, Armanto street plant frontside inverts into a different type of pool.
"It's not like any other event that we do," Lizzie Armanto says of X Games. "For a lot of the girls, it's like that destination that they want to get to. It's something to work toward and strive toward, and that's why I think it's really positive for the girls to be a part of it and have our event back." Here, Armanto street plant frontside inverts into a different type of pool.
Goofin' around
Yes, X Games is a competition, but there is a sincere camaraderie among the competitors in the Women's Skateboard Park ranks. Here, Lizzie Armanto stalefishes over whatever it is Allysha Bergado is up to.
Yes, X Games is a competition, but there is a sincere camaraderie among the competitors in the Women's Skateboard Park ranks. Here, Lizzie Armanto stalefishes over whatever it is Allysha Bergado is up to.
Doubling up
Allysha Bergado and Lizzie Armanto double up on a scenic ramp in Encinitas, California. Women's Skateboard Park returns to X Games Austin 2016 on Saturday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Allysha Bergado and Lizzie Armanto double up on a scenic ramp in Encinitas, California. Women's Skateboard Park returns to X Games Austin 2016 on Saturday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. CT.
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