Top 10 Action Athletes of 2026

Arisa Trew is the most decorated teenage skateboarder in history. Born May 12, 2010, in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, to a Japanese mother and Welsh father, she began skating at seven. At just 14, she won Olympic gold at Paris 2024 with a score of 93.18, becoming Australia's youngest-ever Olympic champion. She holds two landmark firsts: the first woman to land a 720 in competition (2023) and the first to land a 900 (2024). At X Games Osaka 2025, she won her fourth consecutive Women's Park title, breaking the all-time record for female skateboarding gold medals. An eight-time X Games gold medalist, she was drafted to XC Tokyo at the 2026 MoonPay X Games League Draft. Her social media presence has ignited a global surge in girls' skateboarding. Young athletes worldwide point to Arisa as proof that the sport's age barriers no longer exist, and she is already the early favorite for gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Arisa Trew

Chloe Covell was selected as the number-one draft pick at the 2026 MoonPay X Games League Draft. Born February 9, 2010, in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, she picked up a skateboard at age six after watching Nyjah Huston. By 13 she became the youngest ever X Games gold medalist in Women's Street. At X Games Salt Lake City 2025, she claimed her fourth career gold, extending her three-peat in Women's Street. Her career-best score of 93.49 at a Dubai World Skateboarding Tour event in 2024 remains the highest ever recorded by a female street skater. Her technical consistency, clean switch stances, precise grinds, and progressive trick selection are matched only by her competitive composure under pressure. Sponsors include Antihero Skateboards, Vans, and Spitfire Wheels. In 2026, Covell is on course to dominate the inaugural X Games League season, and is already being discussed as a generational talent capable of redefining women's street skating for the next decade.

Chloe Covell

Gui Khury is Brazilian skateboarding's next generational superstar. Born in Curitiba, Brazil in 2008, he moved to Carlsbad, California at age two, discovered skating at four, and competed professionally by ten. In 2020, at just 11 years old, he became the first person in history to land a 1080 on a vert ramp, a trick that had eluded the sport for 21 years after Tony Hawk's 900. That feat earned him two Guinness World Records. By 12, he won X Games gold, defeating Hawk himself to become the youngest male X Games gold medalist ever. Now 17, Khury has amassed 15 X Games medals, making him the most-decorated teenager in X Games history, and claimed his first Skateboarding World Championship before turning 16. Drafted to XC Sao Paulo at the 2026 MoonPay X Games League Draft, he is the face of Brazil's new skating generation. His jaw-dropping vert footage has accumulated tens of millions of views across TikTok and YouTube.

Gui Khury

Tom Schaar is a veteran skateboarding champion whose career reads like a living history of the sport's vertical evolution. The Southern California native made headlines in 2012 at age 12 when he became the first skater to land a 1080 on a MegaRamp. A 17-time X Games medallist, his bronze at X Games Salt Lake City 2025 officially broke his tie with Tony Hawk for skateboard medals, placing him second all-time. Selected by XC Los Angeles at the 2026 MoonPay X Games League Draft, he is one of the sport's most reliable elite performers across 15 years. Sponsored by Flip Skateboards, he brings a rare blend of technical mastery and crowd-pleasing aerial acrobatics. At 26, he is in the prime of his career and widely expected to contend for medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Schaar's longevity makes him a touchstone for the broader industry, as athletes entering the scene today grew up watching his highlights on YouTube and at international events worldwide.

Tom Schaar

Hannah Roberts is the dominant force in women's BMX freestyle, holding more World Championship titles than any other female rider in the sport's history. Born August 10, 2001, in South Bend, Indiana, she began riding at nine, inspired by her cousin Brett Banasiewicz. Despite breaking her back at ten, she returned to become the first-ever UCI BMX Freestyle World Champion at age 17. She has since won a record six World Championship titles (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and is a silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. At X Games Salt Lake City 2025, Roberts scored 90.00 to win Women's BMX Park gold. In October 2025 she topped the UCI World Cup in Shanghai. As an openly LGBTQ+ athlete sponsored by the KHE MAC Team, she has also become a powerful voice for inclusion in action sports. Her six World Championship titles, two X Games golds, and ongoing UCI circuit dominance make her the undisputed queen of BMX freestyle heading into the 2026 X Games League season.

Hannah Roberts

Kevin Peraza is one of the most creative and versatile BMX riders alive, a Tucson, Arizona native of Mexican descent who has spent over a decade building one of the sport's most spectacular trick portfolios. Riding for Mongoose and sponsored by Monster Energy, Peraza blends street, park, and vert disciplines in ways that defy categorization. His signature style, ultra-smooth barspin combinations, effortless tailwhips, and fearless mega-ramp lines, has earned him multiple X Games podiums. At X Games Salt Lake City 2025, he claimed first place in the Sonic BMX Dave Mirra Park Best Trick competition. Selected for the 2026 MoonPay X Games League Draft alongside the world's elite, Peraza brings the kind of creative innovation that judges and fans consistently reward. His YouTube channel features some of the most-watched BMX highlight reels on the platform. He has been instrumental in popularizing BMX throughout Latin America and is frequently cited by young Mexican-American riders as a cultural and athletic role model.

Kevin Peraza

Gabriel Medina is the greatest Brazilian surfer of all time and one of the most technically precise big-wave competitors in WSL history. Born December 22, 1993, in Maresias, Brazil, he was introduced to surfing at eight by his stepfather after his parents' divorce. He became the first Brazilian to win the WSL World Championship in 2014, then repeated in 2018 and 2021. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, his 9.90 single-wave score at Teahupoo stands as the highest wave score in Olympic surfing history, producing the iconic mid-air levitation photograph that went viral worldwide. He won Olympic bronze. After a 2025 pectoral injury sidelined him, Medina was awarded a 2026 WSL Championship Tour Wildcard and declared unfinished business upon his return. With three world titles, Olympic bronze, and a compelling comeback story, the 2026 season is one of surfing's most-watched storylines. A cultural icon in Brazil with millions of social media followers, he has transcended the sport to become a lifestyle brand.

Gabriel Medina

Jason Paul is one of the world's most recognized freerunners and a three-time Red Bull Art of Motion champion, the highest honor in competitive parkour. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, he discovered parkour at 14 as a self-described video game nerd and built himself into a global icon through discipline, creativity, and an extraordinary ability to blend narrative storytelling with athletic movement. His Red Bull-produced videos, including Freezerunning (parkour across an ice castle) and Going Back in Time, have collectively accumulated hundreds of millions of views, making him arguably the most-watched parkour athlete on YouTube. Sponsored by Red Bull and GoPro, he represents the pinnacle of freerunning's mainstream moment. With over 800K Instagram followers and millions of YouTube subscribers, he is the sport's most powerful ambassador. In 2026, with parkour heading toward Olympic status, Jason Paul is at the center of the sport's push for global legitimacy, releasing ambitious stunt-film productions that continue to push creative and athletic boundaries.

Jason Paul

Nikita Ducarroz is a Swiss-American BMX freestyle pioneer and one of the most technically gifted park riders competing at the elite level in 2026. Born in San Francisco and raised between the US and Switzerland, she built her career on a bold, progressive riding style emphasizing powerful air, creative trick combos, and a willingness to push difficulty when others play it safe. She won the UCI BMX Freestyle World Championship silver medal in Abu Dhabi in 2024. A double Olympic athlete at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, she has been a consistent World Cup podium finisher for half a decade. At X Games Salt Lake City 2025, she scored 76.66 in an exceptionally deep women's field. As an openly gay athlete competing under the Swiss flag, Nikita has broken barriers both on and off the bike, being vocal about mental health, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and representation in action sports. In 2026, with the UCI BMX World Cup season accelerating, Ducarroz is eyeing her first World Championship title and cementing her legacy as one of the sport's most impactful figures.

Nikita Ducarroz