Gabi Mazetto overcomes fears and gets stronger on skateboarding after the birth of her daughter

Until the beginning of this year, skateboarder Gabriela Mazetto, 24, was confident that July 2021 could be marked in her life by participating in the Tokyo Olympics. The month indeed represented a special milestone for her, but for another reason: the birth of her daughter, Liz.

It was on January 12 that the São Paulo native from Praia Grande discovered her pregnancy during a routine exam. She was in shock because, unaware of the pregnancy, she participated in competitions and trained normally. His head was in Japan and subject to every kind of fall that skateboarding gives its practitioners.

Few people knew why Gabi had to withdraw from the Olympic race from that moment on. As the fourth best Brazilian in the world ranking of the street modality, the forecast was that she would dispute the third place in the country in Tokyo with Leticia Bufoni —Pâmela Rosa and Rayssa Leal, the other representatives, were already ahead in the classification.

“I had to stop skating and it was hard to accept. It was an unplanned pregnancy, so we had to work hard to get it into my head that this was all normal. shock”, tells the sheet.

Liz was born on July 20, three days before the start of the Tokyo Games. That’s when Gabi felt comfortable to broach the subject publicly on her social networks. Until then, in the world of sports, conversations on the subject were restricted to members of the Brazilian Skate Confederation (CBSk) and to the athlete’s sponsors, who, according to her, maintained their full support for her career.

The doctor released her to return to skateboarding 15 days after delivery. She decided to wait 17 before heading to the track near her mother’s house, where she started in the sport. “I was kind of scared, it was like coming back from an injury”, compares the athlete, who from 2018 to 2019 was away for 14 months after an injury to her left knee.

“It took me a little while to go back to doing some maneuvers, walking on the handrail, but I think my willpower was greater and I conquered the fear. After a few days I was fine, but I still had some fears”, he adds.

The calendar wanted the first competition of his comeback to be on Street League Skateboarding (SLS), the main circuit in the world. Gabi had to give up her invitation to the first stage, at the end of August, but confirmed her presence in the second, held in Lake Havasu (USA) last weekend.

The result achieved, classification to the final and sixth place, surprised. “In my opinion I did very well, very much. Until then I wasn’t going down the railing, I was afraid to walk, I assume [risos]. It was a very surprising result for me and for the people who watched. Just three months after the pregnancy, I was walking at a high level,” she says. “After I saw that I could do more, because I played maneuvers that I wasn’t even training properly.”

The woman from São Paulo returned to Praia Grande for a few days, but on Wednesday (10) she will travel to the United States again. On the 13th and 14th, it will dispute the Super Crown, the final stage of the SLS, in Jacksonville. The competition is equivalent to a world championship in the street modality.

It is the resumption of a journey that can lead her to reach the professional goals that she still pursues. Gabi wants to have a board marketed with her name (called a promodel) and, if all goes well, qualify for the Paris-2024 Games.

It would be the realization of the Olympic dream for the girl who started in the sport in artistic gymnastics and around the age of 12, when a skate park was built near her house, she thought she could be happier there than in the gym.

“My mother asked if that was what I really wanted, because ‘skating is not valued, it’s a marginalized sport, like a bum’. She said ‘that’s what I want, I’ll skate and see what happens’. One year after that I was Brazilian champion and saw that I was really good. I started to have good results, and my mother started to see that I was cool and was more supportive,” she recalls.

Gabi’s skateboarding goals continue to be encouraged by her family. She says that Liz’s father, physical educator Luan Rodrigues, was the first to want to see the athlete on the track as soon as the doctor released her. The skater, who thought she would not return to the sport, now feels strengthened in the balance between personal and professional life.

“I thought it would be harder than it is. [A Liz] came to strengthen me, to think more about my family than just my career. Now I have to take care of a life that depends on me and I’m going to do everything to make it look good and make me feel good. That’s why I went back to skating. I want to make her happy and proud of me when she grows up and understands everything that happened,” he reflects.

Taking six days away from her daughter for the first time — with the right to a flight cancellation that postponed her return to Brazil by one day — wasn’t easy, but Gabi also had unexpected rewards in Lake Havasu. “I felt that people welcomed me more and I felt happier. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t cover myself so much, I tried to relax as much as possible, but I felt that people around me were very receptive.”

Among those who made a point of greeting her were renowned skaters such as Paul Rodriguez and Manny Santiago. “I didn’t think I’d get a hug for being a strong person and going back to skating the way I’m riding now. It doesn’t seem like I’ve stopped riding, they told me. It inspires me.”

The Brazilian is still trying to understand that now she can also inspire women in sport. During the broadcast of the SLS stage on SporTV, commentator Karen Jonz commented on her personal experience, when she was abandoned by a sponsor after becoming pregnant, and celebrated Gabi’s return in style.

“Karen said that maybe I don’t understand the inspiration I can be for people who want to have children, and I still don’t understand. , so keep following there,” he concludes with laughter.