Lizzie Skates the Light Fantastic
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Lizzie Armanto (Photo by Ray Zimmerman/Source: instagram @lizziearmanto)
Since 2018, “Lizzie’s Loop” has become synonymous with the first woman in 20 years to grace the cover of Thrasher Magazine, owner of shiny trophies and lucrative sponsorships, and an athlete seizing her opportunity to hang an Olympic Gold medal on the mantel of either of her two houses. One of her sponsors, Birdhouse Skateboards, is owned by skate great Tony Hawk. “Tony asked me one day if I wanted to try the loop. I said, ‘I’m down if you set it up but no guarantees.' You can’t plan the loop. It isn’t like anything you have or ever will skate. There’s only a couple dozen in the world who ever made it out safely. I’m happy that it worked out,” she says with an arch smile.
In 2021, skateboarding joins baseball/softball, karate, sports climbing and surfing as the newest sports in the Olympics. The two skateboarding categories will be Street and Park. Street features rails, stairs and benches. Lizzie will be participating in Park, which is known for vertical (“vert”) feats performed along and above the lips of concave bowls harkening back to the empty swimming pools of the droughts and oil embargo of the '70s.
Lizzie lives in Long Beach, California, but began skateboarding in Santa Monica at age 14 with her younger brother Max. Her parents are divorced. Lizzie's mother, Eva Armanto, was born in the US to a Filipino father. Of her mother, she recalls, “She was a bit hesitant when I decided to pursue skateboarding, but nonetheless she’s always been supportive of my passion for skateboarding.
Lizzie Armanto (left), with mom Eva and brother Max (Photo courtesy of Lizzie Armanto)
A Permanent Gap Year
“I was actually going to college in Santa Monica when I made the decision to pursue skateboarding as a career. I decided to give it a year as a full-time skateboarder. I knew if it didn’t work out, I could always go back to school. Whereas my window to pursue skateboarding might not be there if I put school first.”
Had her childhood predilection taken hold, today she would be doing cut backs instead of curb cuts next summer. “Growing up in Southern California, we went to the beach often. When I was seven or eight, I thought being a surfer is cool,” she admits. Then “my mom signed us (Max and her) up for the local skate park and that became our after school spot.” It’s premature to say the rest is history since the quill is still out of the inkwell with a potential gold medal looming.
Lizzie’s father, Eero Armanto, is in Helsinki, Finland. She will be representing his country in the Olympics for altruistic reasons.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is limiting each grouping to 20 entrants from six continents, and no single country can send more than three skaters. It’s safe to assume that nine of the women Park skateboarders will come from powerhouses US, Brazil, and Japan. In explaining why she’ll be lip-syncing Finland’s national anthem “Maamme” on the medal stand, Lizzie says, “By choosing Finland, one more spot opens up for an American girl ranked in the Top 10 who otherwise would not be able to compete in Tokyo.”
Picturing Lizzie in Finland's Summer medal count takes little imagination since she won the first gold medal in Women's Park at the 2013 X Games. Skaters from all nations will be cheering for her. The universal warmth between competitive skaters seems antithetical in a sport built on defiance. Skateboarders are called skaters for short, but that's where the sport's similarity to ice skating ends. We have yet to see a Tonya Harding of the skate parks.
Due to the pandemic, this Summer’s Tokyo Olympics have been postponed to July 23, 2021 to August 8, 2021. Many of the local skate parks where she would otherwise be training are closed. Lizzie says, “I’d much rather be at a skate park than in a movie theater, grocery store or restaurant barring it’s not crowded.” With Covid-19 more contagious than the flu bug, she advocates for personal responsibility. “I feel like we all just need to practice common sense. Masks help, washing your hands helps, not being shoulder to shoulder in a crowded space helps. Respect the facts.”
Livelihood on Wheels
As women in sports assert their right to equal pay, Lizzie is the outlier who out-earns most professional male skaters. Sponsorships are the currency among skateboarders who frequent Southern California skate parks with the hope of attracting a company to replace their broken skate decks every month. In addition to Tony Hawk's anointing at Birdhouse, Lizzie is sponsored by Vans Footwear and Apparel, Monster Energy, VISA, Bones Wheels, Independent Trucks, and Bro Style Grip Tape. "I can't say that any one sponsor has changed my life any more than the others." She does note that "Vans has been a great partner for many years now. They have always supported me and women's skating and will continue to for years to come."
Lizzie’s apparel on the Vans website
Vans is almost as smart as Lizzie. Success on the Finnish team make her a skateboard brand name in the European Union market. She already rules in the US. In July, Vans released the latest pair of Lizzie Armanto Old Skool Pro sneakers. Just a week after the drop date, two sizes on the Vans website are already sold out. If past sales are an indication of future gains, a majority of the buyers of her LA model shoes will continue to be male.
Lizzie says, “My favorite food is adobo.” I insert that cliché because Lizzie is a searcher among millennial Fil-Ams: “I’ve never been to the Philippines. I would definitely love to go at some point. I know a few skaters from there. It looks beautiful and a lot of fun.”
The Philippines is almost 9,000 kilometers from Finland and they’re the polar opposites in weather and realities. Lizzie has shown the Filipino perseverance to navigate the culture shock.
Video from Thrasher Magazine
Anthony Maddela
Anthony Maddela, Staff Correspondent, reports on Southern California, restaurants and personalities. Follow him on Instagram @anthony_maddela.
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