Haylie Powell

When skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, Queensland’s Haylie Powell was watching from her hospital bed, after suffering a dislocated and fractured elbow in what she calls a “silly fall.”

“It was still a really cool experience to watch it,” she said.

Inspired by what she had seen, the diminutive skater – known to her friends as Micro – wasted no time getting back on her board.

“I was out maybe for a week and a half,” she said. “I just skated with the cast on. And they said not to, but how are you going tell a skater not to skate for six weeks?”

Growing up on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Haylie initially followed her dad into surfing, and also played soccer and rugby league.

But when she discovered skating there was an instant connection.

“I think skating for me, I just fell in love with it really easily, more than the other sports,” she said. “I still love watching soccer and rugby league and surfing ... but skating I love more than anything.”

By the age of 11, she was competing in events around Australia and within a couple of years she was on a plane to her first international competition in California.

Haylie specialises in street skateboarding, but has also competed in park and bowl events.

She made the final 16 at the street world championships in Sharjah in 2023 and was 10th at the X Games in Chiba, Japan, a few months later. She finished third in a Street League Sydney Select Series in October 2023.

Haylie nailed down her quota spot for the Paris Games when she finished with a ranking of 20 after the final Olympic qualification series event in Budapest in June 2024.