I feel like I'm one of the skaters that have the most hate.
A lot of people talk-- talk bad stuff.
But I never care what other people are saying.
I just took that as a motivation, and I kept doing what I wanted to do.
I grew up in São Paulo, Brazil.
So when I started skating, I was ten years old.
Touched the board for the first time, and I just fell in love.
As soon as I started skating, I just-- I learned everything really fast.
You know, I was just trying tricks the first day that I skated.
It was like, I don't even know how to push,
and I'm already trying tricks.
I used to hold the gate,
and I used to try to do kickflips, heelflips…
In skateboarding, it's really easy to fall.
We fall all the time.
A lot of people give up when they start skating
because it hurts.
I remember the first time I was going down a hill and I fell.
And I was-- I had, like, scratches all over my body.
And I was like,
"This is fun. I wanna do it again."
I used to skate with the boys. I was pretty much a little boy, you know?
I was, like, fighting them.
I was trying the same tricks.
I was the only girl.
My neighbor used to call me all the names
because I was wearing the same thing that the boys was wearing:
baggy pants, hat, and I was carrying a skateboard.
My dad just hated skateboarding.
He didn't want me to skate.
He was, you know, like, a strict dad.
He said I should be home studying
and not outside with the boys.
He even broke my board in half.
But the next morning, I got a board with my friend,
and I set up a new board.
And all I wanted to do was skate.
When I was 14 years old, I got invited to come to Los Angeles
to skate at X Games.
That's the moment that I realized, that I was like,
"Okay, I think I'm good at this."
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Los Angeles, Californ-i-ay.
My first X Games, I didn't do that well.
I was so used to skating the contests in Brazil, which--
The skate park was really small.
When I got here to X Games, everything was double the size.
And I got last place.
I think I needed that.
It changed my whole skating.
You know, it pushed my level to get better.
And I was like, "Okay, I gotta step up my game."
Leticia's first ever gold medal
comes in her home country.
Letí! Letí! Letí! Letí!
Leticia Bufoni is your gold medalist.
Leticia Bufoni back on top.
Another gold medal.
Three X Games gold medalist.
One bronze, two silver.
When I started winning at X Games,
everything happened really fast.
It was pretty awesome.
You know, I got to meet up with pro skaters.
And I got a lot of opportunities to be in magazines,
like fitness magazines,
fashion magazines.
A lot of people were saying that I wasn't skating anymore,
saying that I was a full-time model,
that I was a fitness model.
It hurt because my priority was always skateboarding.
That was always in first place for me.
When I got invited to the ESPN Body Issue,
I was really honored.
At first, I was really nervous
because I knew I was gonna be naked.
I did it, and I loved the result.
But a lot of people,
they didn't know the concept of showing the athlete's body
and, like, the muscles, and not showing other stuff.
So a lot of people was talking a lot of bad stuff,
saying that I got paid to do that.
They said that I was selling out.
And that happened right before Street League,
the first-ever Street League.
We are here live in Chicago.
A historical day here for Street League Skateboarding.
In its six-year history,
women have never competed in Street League until tonight.
Street League was the biggest competition in skateboarding.
I was going through a hard moment in my career,
and I really wanted to win.
This is a game changer in women's skateboarding.
Let's take a look at the women who are going to be going for the title.
A lot of people competing with me,
they were the ones saying that I wasn't skating anymore.
Once we all get to the course, everyone is friends.
But in the back of my mind,
I knew they were the ones talking about me.
I put a lot of pressure on myself to prove them wrong.
The nerves that I have before a competition,
like, the feeling that I have, it's not the best feeling.
But the moment that I start skating, everything changes.
I just get in my zone, and I don't listen to anything.
You can be screaming next to me, calling my name.
There could be, like, fireworks.
I'll just be focused on my tricks.
She knows how to put together a couple ollies,
good single tricks.
She's good skating fast.
She's good on transition. She's good on street.
The course was a really fun course.
There was a really big SLS logo in the middle of the course
that no one was really jumping over
'cause there was just a big gap.
A huge ollie.
There we go.
I wasn't even thinking about the first place or second place.
I just wanted to land all my tricks.
Nice. Perfect run.
Nice frontside 180.
I remember I was in second place,
and I had three more chances.
And I needed-- not a really big score. I needed an okay score.
If I did something easier,
I would get the score, and I would jump to first place.
But in the back of my mind, I was not counting the points.
I just wanted to do something good.
Like a real trick. Not just something easy to win.
What's she got for us?
Big 360 flip just gets away from her. Doesn't quite rotate.
I tried to 360 flip.
I missed the first one.
And I was like, "Okay, I got two more. I got this."
Second one, I missed it again.
And I was like, "Well, now it's gonna be hard.
Like, the pressure's on me. I only have one more chance."
A 3.9 is what she's gonna need.
We'll see if she goes for that 360 flip-- we've seen two bails on it--
or if she's gonna try something she knows she has.
In my head, I knew I didn't need to go that big.
But I wanted to go big.
I wanted to land that trick.
Especially that I missed it twice, so I need to land this.
I'm not just gonna change my trick because I won't win.
If I win, I want to win the right way.
Needs to stay focused.
Normally, when you do a trick, you know when you're gonna land
or if you're gonna miss.
I had my board under my feet,
so I was like, "I got this. This is it. I'm landing it."
But as soon as I land it, I kind of lose my balance a little bit.
And then when I got into my balancing again,
I was like, "Okay. I got this."
And then I just started celebrating right away.
Banking it! Yes!
Sick.
Leticia Bufoni is our first-ever
women's SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Champion.
When I landed the last trick,
I had the best feeling ever.
It's hard to explain the feeling.
It's like skydiving. You've gotta jump to know.
That was my greatest win 'cause of the moment I was living.
After that, I think I got a lot of respect.
It's a dream. It's a dream.
I've been having dreams about Street League for, like, two weeks.
And I did it.
I'm super happy.
It was one of the best moments of my life.
I got to a place that now I understand
that if you're doing something good, people are always gonna say bad stuff.
But I never care.
I always wanted to take skateboarding to the next level.
Of course winning matters,
but skateboarding is way more than just winning.
I have a lot of parents come to me
and say that their daughters skate because they saw my videos.
It's great when I hear that, you know?
I always try to be someone that I didn't have when I started skating.
'Cause I wanted to show my dad that women can skate,
that women can be professional.
And I didn't have that.
So today I want to be that person for the young generation, you know?
I want to show them that you can do whatever you want.
You just gotta follow your passion.
You can do it all.