| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | October 20, 2000 Mesa, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Professional skateboarder | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Skateboarding | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goofy-footed | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | 19th (Street; July 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Street, park | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pro tour(s) | Dew Tour Street League Skateboarding | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alana Smith (born October 20, 2000) is an American professional skateboarder from Mesa, Arizona.[2][3] They are goofy-footed.[4]
In 2013, at the age of 12, Smith landed a 540 McTwist and became the youngest medalist in X Games history when they won silver in the women's park event at the X Games Barcelona.[5][3][6]
They finished first in the Girls Combi Pool Classic at the World Cup of Skateboarding in 2015.[6][7][8][9]
In 2016, Smith and Nora Vasconcellos joined the skate team of the Eugene, Oregon boardshop Tactics, as the brand's female ambassadors.[10]
In 2021, Smith competed in the women's street skateboarding event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing in last place out of the 20 competitors at the heat stage.[11] In so doing, Smith became the first ever openly non-binary athlete to compete at the Olympics and had the pronouns "they/them" inscribed on their skateboard.[12] However, a number of sports presenters misgendered Smith during coverage of the event, including BBC Sport commentators and commentators on an international feed that was broadcast on NBC Sports.[13][14][15][5][16]
Smith is bisexual and non-binary, using they/them pronouns.[5][12] Other than skateboarding, Smith’s other hobbies include music, film, photography, and camping.[17] In 2021, after the Tokyo games, Smith became involved with a corporate- and athletic- coaching company Exos which focuses on creating safe space skate sessions.[18] Smith has expressed how skateboarding has helped them in dark places and wants to help others find the love of the sport that has helped them keep going.[18][16] Smith was asked why they made their coming out and sexual identity public during an ESPN interview and shared that they wanted to show the world a side of them that is very vulnerable and sensitive while representing and helping kids that needed a support system. They also had started binding their chest in 2016 and received top surgery the following year.[19][18]
