Liz Akama Lands Clutch Victory in Women's Street Skateboarding
SPORTS
Sixteen-year-old Liz Akama just pulled off one of the biggest comebacks of the season at the 2025 SLS Las Vegas Takeover!
In a thrilling and dramatic conclusion to the Women's Street competition at the 2025 SLS Las Vegas Takeover, Monster Energy's Liz Akama cemented her status as a global force, claiming first place with a final, high-pressure trick. The 16-year-old Japanese sensation, recently sidelined by injury, not only made a stunning return to the Street League Skateboarding (SLS) circuit but punched her ticket to the upcoming Super Crown World Championship.
Akama's victory on Saturday, October 25, 2025, represented a momentous comeback. Having sustained an injury at the SLS Miami event earlier in the season, she had missed the majority of the 2025 tour. Upon her triumphant return, Akama herself acknowledged the weight of the moment, stating, "Coming back from the injury, I was not sure if I was going to be able to skate today. But being able not just to enter but to win was simply amazing!"
The Las Vegas Takeover event, the final "Spot Takeover" of the 2025 season, brought a street culture festival atmosphere alongside ComplexCon to downtown Las Vegas. Expert park builders constructed a custom course featuring real street architecture, most notably the towering Hubba ledge—the proving ground for the Women’s final. Each of the six finalists was allotted seven attempts in the Best Trick portion, with the three highest scores determining the champion.
Akama began her run with technical precision, successfully landing a frontside 180 nosegrind on the Hubba for 7.6 points, followed by a frontside 180 switch 50-50 for 7.0 points. Despite this strong start, four consecutive missed attempts piled the pressure high for her final run. With the contest lead on the line, the young skater delivered a moment of legendary clutch performance.
Everything rested on her seventh and final attempt. Skating directly into the immense Hubba, Akama executed her signature move: a flawless Barley grind, which is a frontside 180 switch Smith grind. The clean execution earned her a crucial 7.4 points, pushing her total score to 22.0 points and vaulting her into the first-place position.
The fight for the podium was intense, with Akama’s closest competition coming from her Monster Energy teammate, 17-year-old Brazilian icon Rayssa Leal. The three-time consecutive SLS Super Crown World Champion brought fire to the final, landing the Women’s Highest Scoring Trick of the Day: a powerful frontside bluntslide on the Hubba for 7.8 points. Leal also posted a backside tailslide (7.1) and a backside Smith grind (6.9), ultimately finishing just two-tenths of a point behind Akama with a total of 21.8 points.
Both Akama and Leal's stellar performances in Las Vegas secured their coveted spots in the grand finale of the 2025 SLS World Tour: the SLS Super Crown World Championship, set for São Paulo, Brazil, from December 6–7. In the Men's division, fellow Monster Energy athlete Nyjah Huston also had a standout day, claiming second place with a final score of 26.7 points.
The Las Vegas event provided a spectacular conclusion to the qualifying season, confirming that the path to the 2025 Super Crown title is set to be one of the most competitive in Street League history.