Once pushed away from skateboarding, Brazil’s Rayssa Leal is at the sport's pinnacle

Paris — As a child, Rayssa Leal was warned again and again that skateboarding wasn’t for her. “When I was small, many people told me I shouldn’t skate because skate was for boys and for men,” she said. Now 16, the Brazilian star has become one of skateboarding's most recognizable faces, a two-time Olympic medalist after earning bronze Sunday at the Paris Olympics. “Women, we fight every day and we are here,” she said. “Every day we fight against the prejudice ... so overcoming this is very important and this will be forever in our memory.