September 13, 2003 -- Despite a scheduling conflict that caused the men's skate street finals to start at the same time as the women's skate vert demo, hundreds of fans still managed to pack the three bleachers and standing sections of the 12-foot halfpipe this afternoon. Five invited riders began their intense session with an hour-and-half warm-up, giving each other the time and space they needed to prepare to show the Gravity Games audience how far women's riding has progressed. Though the format of the event was technically a demo only, the absence of judges certainly didn't detract from how motivated the girls were. Scores or no, each skater was out to push her personal boundaries, as well as to support her comrades.

In a format reflective of standard vert competition, each girl was given one introductory run while the announcer filled the crowd in on her hometown and sponsors. What followed was a jam session that, though slated to last only 30 minutes, crept easily to the 45-minute mark or more. Drawing from a seemingly bottomless reserve of energy, each skater pulled everything from straight airs to inverts to grinds. With the ramp-side support of other female street skaters such as Alex White, Amy Caron, and Vanessa Torres, San Diego's Mimi Knoop stuck backside 5-0s repeatedly. Excepting vert veteran Cara-Beth Burnside, Mimi was also the only skater to nail handfuls of invert handplants. Longtime competitor (and mother!) Jen O'Brien painted the halfpipe and coping with her ultra-graceful style, pumping around with the kind of fluidity typically reserved for surfing (another of her passions). Her backside ollies and frontside airs made full use of the halfpipe's every inch.

The true spirit of women's skateboarding, however, was most obvious not in any particular skater's style or talent, but in the friendly battle that grew out of two riders' desires to go harder for themselves and for the crowd. Cara-Beth and Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, the 13-year-old threat from Cardiff, California, had what looked like an unspoken, understood bet that one would rip a kickflip Indy before the other. Though CB sports the advantages of years of experience, power, and honed talent, Lyn-Z definitely counters with boundless energy, focused, unstoppable concentration on the task at hand, and what can only be explained as a youthful disregard for getting hurt. By the time the fans had been given word of the attempts by the announcer, each girl had tried unsuccessfully to stick it several times. Cheers and words of encouragement were offered by everyone; it was just incredible to hear so many people -- many of whom were likely unfamiliar with women's skateboarding -- rally together to help these women accomplish their goals. Yet it seemed CB and Lyn-Z were damned to leave the deck disappointed...

The men's vert finals contingent appeared on the scene around 5:30 p.m. for scheduled practice, and nearly all of the girls cleared out. But Lyn-Z just refused to walk away from the halfpipe without pulling that trick. And in the wake of a vert demo that had blown the lid off of what the masses perceived of women athletes, this one rider finally stuck her clean kickflip Indy. Not only did Cleveland witness a single proud moment for Lyn-Z -- they got a comprehensive glimpse of where the sport is headed for next year's Games and beyond.