CEBUANA skateboarder Margielyn Arda Didal showed off her tricks and handles to win the gold medal in the Pro Street category of the 7th Annual Exposure Women Skate at the Encinitas Community Park in Encinitas, California on Monday, Nov. 5 (Philippine Time).
The Lahug, Cebu City-native Didal made the country proud anew after garnering the highest score among the foreign counterparts in the event dubbed as the current biggest women’s skateboarding in the world with a total cash purse of $60,000.
Didal will come home $7,000 richer for winning the Street Pro gold medal in the three-day event that also featured Vert and Bowl competitions.
“So hyped to skate and lucky to get first place,” the 19-year-old posted on her Facebook account after winning the gold medal.
Didal competed against about 40 skaters in the elimination round. Only the top 12 made the finals.
The annual skateboarding event was conducted to support survivors of domestic violence.
The competition is part of Didal’s preparation for the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers in Brazil next year. The Top 20 in the qualifier will get a slot to the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in 2020.
Didal rose to stardom after winning one of the country’s four gold medals in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia in September. The gold medal in the quadrennial meet was worth P6 million in cash incentives.
But before the Asian Games, Didal first made the country proud with an eighth place finish in the Street Leagure Skateboarding (SLS) Pro Open in London, United Kingdom last May. (RSC)