We thought it was time to revisit this amazing day we witnessed in 2016 at the Vans Pro Skate Series in Huntington Beach, CA. When this “new girl” dropped into the park and started skating, people wrongly assumed that Hanna Zanzi virtually came out of nowhere. They couldn’t have been more wrong. Hanna had been skating since she was a young kid tearing it up at CASL contests and all the other events meant for kids her age. After a few years of winning against the girls, and boys, she quietly slid out of the contest scene, but she still kept skating - for herself.

Hanna Zanzi - - Photo Ian Logan

Coming back and entering the Vans Pro Park Series was fun for her - win or lose, she was out to skate hard, try daring new tricks, and smile no matter what. She had a 100% “go for broke” attitude. Nothing was calculated, there were no specific runs in her head, she just skated. Hard. Girls who had been competing together often were upended by the situation of this “newcomer” in their midst. When she posted a huge score on her first run during the finals, that was it. She had the lead and was poised to win. After the last skater took their run and the scores showed that she was way ahead of the second closest skater, the crowd went wild and the tide turned. Hanna totally shook up the womxn’s competitive skateboarding circuit that day.

Podium - Jordyn Barratt 3rd, Hanna Zanzi 1st, Lizzie Armanto 2nd - Photo Ian Logan

We firmly believe that having open contests like this (as opposed to invite only) only makes womxn’s skateboarding that much stronger and pushes everyone a bit harder.

Know your women’s skate history and the stories that are buried a bit, like Hanna’s - it’s important.