Sawt Falasteen - Skater 'really stoked' to become Finland's youngest-ever Olympian

With a focused expression and her blonde ponytail peeking out under the helmet, Sirvio set off down a half-pipe on her skateboard, seconds later she spun around in the air while grabbing her board and then stuck the landing with ease.

"I am really stoked to be able to represent my country and hopefully make them proud," the young skateboarder told AFP during a break between training sessions at a skatepark in the Finnish city of Tampere.

The visit to her native Finland was only a short pit stop for Sirvio, who lives in California and who has spent a lot of time travelling in recent years.

Less than a month before the Olympic games -- which will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11 -- Sirvio made a stop in Tampere for the Finnish skateboarding championships after which the family planned on heading to a skatepark in southern Sweden for more training.

"We have been pretty much living on the road for the past two years," her father Fredrik Sirvio said.

Jumping from training sites to Olympic qualifiers around the globe, the entire family has been fully devoted to Sirvio's Olympic pursuits.

"Eat breakfast, go to skatepark, have lunch, come back, have a little rest and swim in the lake and back to skatepark," he said, summing up the day's itinerary.

Now competing as one of the world's top skateboarders, Sirvio first stepped on a skateboard only four years ago.

- Lockdown -

The family moved to Australia in 2020 to escape Finland's cold and dark winter months.

Feeling bored indoors during Covid-19 lockdowns, Sirvio's little sister Miila spotted their dad's skateboard in the house and suggested the sisters try out the skatepark.

"We started to pick it up and it was really fun and from then I have just been skating," said Sirvio, who is still accompanied by her 10-year-old sister at the skatepark every day.

"As parents, we have to tell the girls every once in a while that is a good time to take a day off and do something else than skateboarding," their father said with a laugh.

When Sirvio found success in local competitions and the Australian championships -- considered one of the world's top skateboarding tournaments -- it sparked a dream of the Olympics.

- 'Living skateboard legends' -

Being a former professional snowboarder, her father realised there was a real possibility that Sirvio could qualify for the Olympics if she continued progressing.

"These things do not happen many times in your lifetime... so we decided 'let's do it and give it all we have'," he said.

Leaving their Australian home in Brisbane behind, the family of four began travelling to competitions all over the world and sought out the best training sites.

They established a new home base in California -- the birthplace of skateboarding.

"In California, Heili skates and meets with the some of the world's living skateboard legends," her father explained.

Homeschooling and managing work remotely enable the lifestyle: usually the sisters study in the mornings and then skateboard the rest of the day.

Ranked 14th of the 22 selected athletes in the women's park, Sirvio will skate on a course consisting of bowls and bends at Place de la Concorde on August 6.

"Hopefully we bring home a medal from the Olympics, that would mean a lot to me," she said with a smile.

Skateboarding made its debut as an Olympic sport at Tokyo 2021 and is divided into park and street competitions, with the latter taking place on a "street-like course".

There is no age limit -- many of Sirvio's competitors will be around her age.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST