Skate prodigy wins silver at world titles

By Jo Kennett

TWEED HEADS skateboard prodigy Chloe Covell has won silver at the World Skateboarding in the United Arab Emirates.

At 12 years old, Chloe was the youngest competitor in the event, winning valuable points towards her Paris Olympics campaign.

“There are four Olympic qualifiers and I’ve competed in two,” Chloe told The Weekly. “The first one was in Rome about six months ago and I came seventh in the world in the street skating open womens.

“I’ve gotten a lot better since Rome and have trained heaps before Sharjah and I happened to land the tricks that I needed to.

Chloe said she was feeling confident going into the finals because she placed well in the open qualifiers.

“The top 32 go through to the quarters, then the top 16 went into the semis and then the top eight make the finals,” she said.

“I qualified first in the open qualifiers out of about 200 people of all different ages; the oldest was about 30 and I was the youngest.

“I came second in the quarters, fifth in the semis and second in the finals.

“Chloe said that at every different stage she starts with easy tricks and then as the stages get higher she “levels up” and does harder tricks.

“We have the five best tricks in the final and you need to land at least two,” Chloe said.

“My first was sketchy so I crossed it out with my arms to the judges so they didn’t count it.

“Then I landed a swift flip down a drop, a front side flip down a drop and crook nollie flip; I try to improve with the scores every time.”

Chloe led some of the finals until her Brazilian competitor stepped up and took the win.

“I was super happy with second. I couldn’t be happier.” she said.

“It means I represent my country and know

I put in enough work.

“You have to get so many points throughout the qualifiers and be one of the top three in your country to go to the Olympics but only the top 20 in the world get to go.

“My next qualifier is in Rome in June and we aren’t sure where the last one is.”

Chloe, who turned 13 after the competition, said her mum Julie and dad, former NRL player Luke, are her number one supporters.

“It’s great to have them come overseas with me,” she said.

“Everyone is friends in skateboarding.

“There are never fights and even in comp mode we are always talking to each other, having fun and supporting each other.”

In March 2022 she won the Australian Street Skateboarding League National Street Champion for the second year in a row and then won bronze as the youngest competitor at the World X Games in Japan.