Racing into the future

Yang recalls that the contest's emcee noticed her struggling and called on every audience member to cheer for Yang.

"He said I needed more encouragement, and led the audience to call my name loudly and applaud for me. And they did!

"I was so encouraged and finally did that trick."

As the competition was held in her hometown, Yang thought there might be some of her friends or classmates that were cheering for her, but when she finished the jumping, she found that there was nobody she knew.

"I might not have been the best on the field, but the audience cheered for me. And that was when I realize the charm of the sport."

Over the past few years, Yang has practiced skateboarding in her spare time after work.

But when it was included as a mass sport in the National Games in 2017, she quit her job and took half a year to prepare for the competition that was held in September.

There she won the silver medal for street skateboarding.

While skateboarding will feature at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, Yang has decided to find another way to support the sport instead of being a professional athlete.

Late last year she started her own skateboard brand, Mirroir, which focuses on boards specially for women.

Yang is also signing promising female skaters to train and support them.

According to Yang, a professional skater needs two to three new pairs of shoes and boards for training each month, which is a lot expense for youngsters.

"I hope to support female skaters with my boards, and also by becoming a coach, I want to help them to avoid the problems that I experienced.

"Skateboarding is offering opportunities and challenges to women in China right now," says Yang, who thinks the sport is still in its infancy.

"Skateboarding gives us a chance to show how more cool women can be."