After a rough couple opening runs in the women’s skateboarding park prelims, Fay De Fazio Ebert grabbed the hand of one of her biggest supporters: her mother.
“I just needed her energy,” said De Fazio Ebert. “I think that really, I don’t know, made me land most of my [third] run. Even though I didn’t put it down I’m still so proud of myself.”
De Fazio Ebert, who began to skate at the age of eight, said her mother would always take her to the skate park when she was younger. It’s that type of support that got the Toronto native to Paris 2024 – as Team Canada’s youngest member. She’s just 14-years-old.
In her third and final run on Tuesday, De Fazio Ebert scored a 51.82, with a late fall ending her chances of advancing to the eight skater final. That third run was an improvement over her previous two, which saw her open with an 18.66 and then post a 30.00 in her second go.
Despite her age, De Fazio Ebert entered the Olympic Games ranked 23rd in the world in women’s park skateboarding. She’s represented Canada on the world stage previously, which included a gold medal in the park event at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games.
It’s not the Olympic debut De Fazio Ebert was hoping for, but she’s looking at the positives.
“It’s like a mixed emotion. I’m so happy that I’m here and I got to experience all this. I didn’t put down my run but I tried my best. I’m really excited that everyone is here supporting me. I see all those Canadian flags. It’s really amazing.”
De Fazio Ebert wasn’t the only Canadian in action at La Concorde skatepark during these Games. On the men’s side, returning Olympian Matt Berger joined Olympic rookies Ryan Decenzo and Cordano Russell in the street skateboarding event.
The 20-year-old Russell grew up playing football and certainly stood out in the men’s event because of his size.
“The beautiful thing about skateboarding is there is no shape, there is no size, there is no criteria to be a skateboarder.
“The work ethic in football helped translate to the new stage of skateboarding that I was entering into at that time, but skateboarding is so different because there is no mould.”
Russell stood out for another reason as well: he was the only Canadian to qualify for the event final. Russell finished seventh in the prelims with a total score of 263.87. In the final, Russell went for it but couldn’t complete either of his runs without a fumble. He was still more than happy with the tricks he was able to put down.
“That’s where I love showing it because I worked so hard on doing things – on purpose – that no one else does,” Russell said of his tricks. “For me to put all those out there, those three that I’ve been drilling hours… bruises, bumps, everything. Training and recovering. And for those to all go down it’s very special for me. That is a win in my books.”
Russell was the highest-ranked Canadian in the men’s street rankings heading into the Games. He secured a trip to Paris by placing 10th in the second stop of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest this past June.
Berger, who finished 20th at Tokyo 2020, placed 11th in Paris while Decenzo finished 18th.
