Athlete Profile

The Glow Up: Liz Akama Grows From Imposter’s Syndrome To Favorite

By Colin Bane

Liz Akama was a shy 13-year-old when...

...she made her X Games debut two years ago, at X Games Chiba 2022. She finished 9th in the Elimination round, just missing the top-8 cut for the Final. She felt a little dejected but says the experience lit a fire that changed her.

Two years later, she’ll be a podium favorite and gold medal contender at this month’s X Games Chiba. And, she’s quick to point out, “I’m still shy!”

But everything else has changed. Akama says she was suffering from imposter’s syndrome in her rookie appearance, unsure she truly belonged at X Games. Instead of letting the disappointing result confirm her fears, she took the roar of the crowd when she landed Barley and hurricane grinds in her best run as signs she was on the right path.

She returned to her home skatepark in Sendai, Japan, and immediately got to work. “When I got 9th in Chiba, I wasn’t really happy about it,” Akama says, with interview translation assistance from Rie Asada, her agent at The Familie. “I made a lot of effort after that, practicing a lot, and went to many different contests to build confidence.”

Akama hasn’t missed...

...the X Games podium since. In her five subsequent contest starts across three events, she’s taken: bronze at XG Chiba 2023; silver in both Street and Street Best Trick at XG California 2023; and silver in Street and bronze in Street Best Trick at XG Ventura 2024. She then followed her X Games Ventura performance with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics a month later.

It’s one of the most incredible glow-ups in skateboarding history, especially considering she’s still just 15 years old. She isn’t satisfied.

“It was a big jump to step up to earning X Games medals, but they were silver and bronze,” Akama says. “I need a gold medal! That will take even more effort, more practice. To do it I want to do it in my style, make the audience get excited, and do the most difficult tricks no one else is trying.”

Breaking The Mold

The Barley grind (a frontside 180 to switch Smith grind, named for Donny Barley) that has become Akama’s signature was never seen in women’s competition before she started busting it out like it’s easy. Liz hadn’t heard of the Barley grind before Alex Midler did one in the 2020 X Games Real Street Best Trick video contest. When she showed it to the older skaters mentoring her in Sendai, they began screening classic skate videos for her, including clips of Donny Barley, for inspiration.

“I started trying the Barley grind because I knew nobody else was trying it and I wanted to get a unique trick,” Akama says. “It was surprisingly easy to learn -- it’s a very natural movement for me -- but always gets a big response.”

Akama started skating at age 7. Her father, Ryuji, is a surfer and casual skater. When she first showed some interest, he enrolled her in lessons at Sendai’s Alley-Oop Skatepark. She’s been obsessed by the endless possibility inherent in skateboarding ever since. She also enjoys the respect that can be attained within Japan’s skate culture by mastering highly technical precision tricks.

“That was the part of skateboarding I fell in love with -- skating with friends and seeing how skaters praise each other for progressing and trying new things and doing things differently,” she says.

That’s why she also does Bennett grinds (named for Matt Bennett, it’s a backside 180 to switch Smith grind, essentially a Barley grind spun in the opposite direction) and hurricane grinds (180 to fakie feeble grind) and other deep-dive pulls from skate history.

“When I started going to contests, I didn’t feel like learning all the same tricks everyone else was doing,” Akama explains with a shrug.

For Street Best Trick bronze at X Games Ventura 2024, Akama unveiled a new frontside 270 to switch front board on the 10-stair handrail. She has something even bigger planned for Chiba 2024 but has learned to keep some secrets. “I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s something I’ve been working up to,” she says. “I love the mental strength part of the game.”

Japan, Japan, Japan

At X Games Ventura 2024, Japanese women swept the podium in both Street and Street Best Trick -- the first time the country’s women had swept either discipline. Akama shared the Street podium with rookie champ Miyu Ito and bronze medalist Yumeka Oda. In Street Best Trick, it was Oda for gold, Ito in silver and Akama with bronze.

At X Games Chiba 2024, three-fourths of the Women’s Street field will be Japanese, a near-total takeover in the discipline.

“Japanese people are usually hard workers, and Japanese skaters have a reverence for skate culture that pushes us,” Akama says, explaining how the moment came about. “Everybody in Japan who gets into it at a young age is making an effort early, working hard on tricks, and the older skaters help raise the younger skaters within that skate culture.”

Akama predicts another all-Japan Women’s Street podium in Chiba. And, after winning March 2024’s Street League Apex in Las Vegas and the World Skateboarding Tour contest in Dubai, this time she plans to lead it.

“X Games is something very special,” Akama says. “It’s a privilege to be there. As long as I’m invited, I want to be there. My biggest goal is to be honored with an X Games gold medal.”

Liz Akama Bio Blast