Christian sports stars: Rayssa Leal

Rayssa Leal won a bronze medal in the women’s street skateboarding final at the Paris Olympic Games and used sign language to quote John 14:6, as was revealed in a post on X by Dom Lucre.

The 16-year-old Brazilian, who is believed to be Catholic, quoted scripture saying: ‘Jesus is the way, the truth and the life’ immediately after competing in the final before taking her place on the podium to receive her bronze medal.

Leal rose to stardom at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo during the Covid pandemic, where she won a silver medal aged 13, making her Brazil’s youngest ever Olympian and the youngest medallist at the Games in 85 years. Her score of 253.37 points in Paris secured her the bronze medal this time around and makes her Brazil’s youngest ever double-medallist.