Arya News - Mazel Paris-Alegado ruled the women’s park category of skateboarding in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok at SAT Extreme Sports Park late Saturday, earning the distinction of being the country’s youngest gold medalist.
MANILA – Mazel Paris-Alegado did what you’d expect out of an ordinary 11-year-old kid who had just accomplished a milestone.
“It was so fun,” Paris-Alegado said. “[I was] dancing, making new friends, making TikToks. It was so fun.”
It was the milestone that made things extraordinary.
Paris-Alegado ruled the women’s park category of skateboarding in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Bangkok at SAT Extreme Sports Park late Saturday, earning the distinction of being the country’s youngest gold medalist.
“It feels crazy because this is my first SEA Games and I’m so proud to represent the Philippines,” the bubbly pre-teen said. “It was so hype. Everyone was hyping me up.”
Paris-Alegado, who competed in the Hangzhou Asian Games as a nine-year-old, said that there was an additional benefit to her win: it might encourage more kids to try a sport that’s not traditionally a child’s first introduction to athletic competition.
“Yeah, I love inspiring people, especially like little kids and little girls,” she said. “I just hope lots of people saw that, even on the livestream, if there was a livestream. And then, yeah, I just hope they saw that and they want to like, you know, start skateboarding like how I got inspired by my brother.”
The young girl’s mom, Pauline Cristianne Constantino, said she had hoped that her daughter would have gone into the usual stuff and was “putting her in cheerleading and ballet.”
But a visit to a relative changed all that.
“I was at my cousin’s house and then I saw my brother on a skateboard and I was like, oh my gosh, that is so cool,” Paris-Alegado said. “And then I got on and I instantly fell in love.”