Photo: Moniz Franco; Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty
For skateboarderMinna Stess, there is so much to look forward to if she qualifies for the upcoming Tokyo Summer Olympics — but meetingSimone Bileshappens to be at the top of her list.
“She’s really cool,” Stess says of the famed gymnast. “I’ve watched a lot of her and her achievements and I really look up to her.”
Minna Stess
Stess, a young California skateboarder, says that her love of the sport began at a very young age through the influence of a loved one.
“I was around two, almost two, and my brother started skating, so I just wanted to copy him and be like him,” she says. “So I just tried to get on a board [and] ride around the skate park with him.”
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Moniz Franco
Now all these years later, with numerous skating achievements under her belt, Stess has enhanced her craft as “there’s always something new to learn.”
“The whole skate community is really cool and you always meet new people,” she tells PEOPLE. “Everything about [skating is] just awesome. I don’t know what I do without it, my life would be so boring.”
And for Stess, being the youngest member TeamUSA Skateboardingbrings no additional challenges as her teammates are just happy to skate with other like-minded professionals.
“Obviously I’m the youngest, but … everyone’s just skating,” she tells PEOPLE. “Age isn’t that big of a [deal]. Everyone just gets along in skating.”
Stess also says that she has known many of her teammates for most of her life, which has “definitely” allowed them to build a strong dynamic.
“I’ve known most of them for a while, like, even before all the Olympic stuff … since I was probably five I’ve known them,” she notes.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer on NBC.
source: people.com
