Credit: X
The Indian skater, Zarah Ann Glayds, became the youngest player to compete at the World Skateboarding Tour 2024 event in Dubai, at the tender age of eight years old. She scored 8.50 in the women’s park skateboarding qualifying round, performing two 45‑second runs, to finish in 61st place out of 63 competitors at the Dubai Harbour.
Zarah Ann Glayds hails from Kerala, India, but she is currently residing in the United Arab Emirates, to pursue skateboarding along with her education. After starting skateboarding at the age of four, and seeing her friends practice it during COVID-19, she has taken part in a few local and international tournaments in the sport.
The eight-year-old has won titles at the Aljada Skate Jam and Circuit X in the UAE, during her short career in skateboarding. She has also clinched the silver at the National Roller Skating Championships in India in December 2022, in the under-9 age group.
During the Skateboarding Park World Championship 2023 in Rome last year, Zarah Ann Gladys made her international debut, putting up a score of 10.66, which is her best run in the sport thus far. With that, the current result in the World Skateboarding Tour 2024 event in Dubai wasn’t something she might have hoped for.
Moreover, it was the Japanese skater Yoszumi Sakara, the Tokyo Olympic champion, who put up the score of 82.00 to finish in first place in the qualifying event in Dubai, followed by Ruby Lilley of the USA with a score of 77.50 and another Japanese Hasegawa Mizuho, who got 76.65 scores.
