Boipelo Awuah Aims for Paris Olympics after Tokyo Setback

At the last Olympics, she suffered an injury to her pelvis on day two of training that unfortunately disbarred her from competing. Awuah says that the turn of events only affected her when she got back home. She admits to feeling "heartbroken," and adds that it would have been an amazing experience to compete.

She had to re-learn skateboarding, and admits to GSport that it was a challenge mentally to not be able to skate. But when she was ready, all she had to do was get comfortable on her board, her muscle memory had preserved all the tricks.

Awuah has used the misfortune to her advantage, and says that it prepared her for this year's Olympic Games. She is more prepared mentally to face competition, and her skills on the board are sharper this time around.

"So now looking back at it, I would say God works in mysterious ways, and [though] the injury was sad, he definitely allowed that to happen in order for me to prepare properly for this moment," she says.

Awuah is a role model for young girls in South Africa. She is carving her own lane, doing things her own way, and is making history in the process. The Kimberley-born champion got into skateboarding from an early age by watching her brother and his friends cruising up and down the street.

“It always looked so cool to skate," she says, adding that she was 5 years old when she got on the board.

"I was very fortunate at the time because it was the same time that the skate park was being built in Kimberley,” she recalls. Apart from observing her brother and his friends, she also learned skateboarding by watching videos on YouTube.

She spent hours at the skate park sharpening her skills, under the guidance of her brother who was her mentor. And at age 10, she won her first competition at the International Maloof Money Cup. The path was set, she was officially a child prodigy.

But Awuah quit after that victory.

"I wasn't enjoying it anymore. I was still very young, but I was getting [pressured] into progressing... I thought of skateboarding as training, focus and all. Then it went downhill," she said to Olympics.com. She felt overwhelmed and stopped skating for four years.

She got back in 2019 with a changed mindset. She was intent on having fun.

“When COVID-19 hit, that was the best time ever because I'd wake up, get ready, skate, have fun. No competition to worry about, nobody is looking at my position, just me having fun and that's when everything started working out for me,” she disclosed in the Olympics interview.

The skateboarder is currently considered the top woman skater on the African continent. She has shared her observations regarding the differences between the skating scene at home and internationally, and says that skaters elsewhere are "on top of their game."

“They have so much support and many parks to choose from. They travel as a team with coaches, physiotherapists, managers, and support staff, with all their expenses covered by their federations. Unfortunately, our local government has not been assisting us skaters when it comes to Olympics qualifiers and the Olympics," she states.

The South African minister of sports, arts and culture, Gayton McKenzie, has promised that his department is going to turn things around by actively seeking out and supporting artistic and sporting excellence. It remains to be seen whether the promise is going to materialize.

The Diamond of Kimberly, as Awuah is affectionately known in skateboarding circles, says that including women skaters in more projects will greatly assist in growing the circuit.

This year, Awuah — who competes in the Women’s Street event — joins Brandon Valjalo (Men’s Street) and Dallas Oberholzer (Men’s Park) as South Africa’s representatives at the Olympics.

Awuah has worked hard and overcome the odds. Only glory awaits on the other side in Paris.