It may be in the Olympics, but do not tell Tora Waldren that skateboarding is just a sport.
"You really have to just have that little courageous flick in the back of your mind that says, 'I want this, it's gonna hurt but I want this'."
The 27-year-old Gold Coaster started when she was 8 years old and now skates competitively, including in last week's Bowlzilla National Park Skating Championships.
She is also part of a growing community of women embracing skateboarding and the culture that comes with it.
"You have this diversity in skating that allows [you to] just present yourself however you wish," Waldren said.
"I'm laughing pretty much all the time — unless you smack your face."
Skin lost, community gained
Waldren said she "lost a lot of skin" in her early years but soon met others "who really wanted to feel safe at skate parks".
"When I was a kid I didn't skate with any other girls, didn't know any other girls skating," she said.
What started as a group chat among a handful of friends has since grown into We Skate Queensland, a community with more than 3,000 Instagram followers.
"I didn't do that much, just showed up to skate parks and introduced people to other people," Waldren said.
But her success is not unique.
'Making it our own'
Sarah Huston founded Yeah Girl, an online media platform dedicated to women in skateboarding, about five years ago.
"It's important to have it all documented from a woman's point of view [so] it's not just the men telling the women's story," she said.
Huston said skateboarding had historically been "a bit of a boys club" but that it was "changing in a big way".
"Skateboarding didn't always include women in the past so just in a way, we were forced to go out and do our own thing, create our own platforms, and form our own crews and events," she said.
"So it's got a real DIY culture about it."
Beyond the board
Yeah Girl partnered with Bowlzilla to deliver a week of learn-to-ride training sessions and workshops for women interested in skate media.
The week culminated in Saturday's championship in Elanora, with past competitors including Olympians Keegan Palmer, Poppy Olsen, and Kieran Woolley.
"There are more women getting involved behind the scenes. We have a female head judge, we have a woman MC," Huston said.
"It's one thing to say we want more women involved and have more women skateboarding, but when you can involve women at every level that's true equality."
She said Bowzilla had also become "the highest-paying equality-in-skateboarding event in Australia", with equal cash prizes in the men's and women's divisions.
"It's something that we celebrate but also something that should just be normal," Huston said.
'Community and culture'
Huston said the inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympics had sparked "a bit of debate over whether it's good or bad", but has led to more exposure and investment.
Nonetheless, she said it was important to recognise that skating was not really "just a sport".
"It's just how you foster that community and culture."
As for the next generation, Tora Waldren said skateboarding could teach young people the value of personal achievement.
"They don't get the limelight, they're all in it together, learn how to share, take turns, skate park etiquette," she said.
