Brazil's Leticia Bufoni stepped up her game on the final run of Women's Skateboard Street at X Games Foz do Iguaçu to secure her first gold medal in a buzzer-beater over American Lacey Baker.
"I'm so f----ing happy," the 20-year-old Brazilian, who hails from nearby São Paulo, said right after the win on Sunday, posting a 87.33. "I'm so stoked! I mean… I'm just so stoked."
She also credited her move to California with helping her progress toward her first gold. "There are a lot of skateparks [in California]," she said, "and here in Brazil we don't have a lot of skateparks."
Swapping out previously landed standards for higher-scoring maneuvers, such as a lip slide down the big rail to close out her winning run, Bufoni edged past Baker, 21, who held the lead for most of the 15-minute final jam session.
Baker, who won the bronze medal at X Games in 2006 and recently dropped an online video that Thrasher magazine called "one of the best," was the contest's early standout with difficult tricks, such as a nose slide backside 270 out.
