Lacey Baker: BEING | X Games

back when Lacey was coming up it was hard to not follow the path everybody else was on all different types of girls skate just like all different types of guys skate all different types of people I was never gonna change for anybody I truly feel like Lacey is a skater skater there's not this I know she's pretty good for a girl and she's just good nobody else is doing that sponsors wanted the women to look like women that's when I started to realize there's like no support at all they're like you're not really like what we want they're not a guy they're not of this and out of that skateboarding should be for everyone she's gonna keep doing it that's why so many people have so much respect for her I found skateboarding had a young age I grew up skating on my cul-de-sac learn tricks there I allowed to say morning the first time I met Lacey was at an AM contest and actually wondered if she was a girl or a boy because her skating was so good there weren't a lot of girls around at the time and so it's like if this is a girl like I need to beat this girl right so she kills it of course but I think I ended up beating her and she was pissed we became super close we literally travel the world with our moms together because at the time there weren't other girls in our age range and the pro circuit she's so little and blonde blonde hair and like backwards hat you see the undeniable and you just you want to like nurture that they were always super sweet to me and it was just a really great experience Lacey had the demeanor to put herself in a competitive situation and thrive I don't think everyone can do that and she didn't just rush around and throw out a bunch of teeny tricks to get points she had thoughtful runs that had good tricks the year 2006 was the first time I saw Lacey it can be the next games at that point in skateboarding the X Games who was the biggest event she came in with a lot of confidence and killed it and got third and so there was like this anticipation of like you're gonna win next year and I didn't win for many years but people were just like expecting me to one of the hardest things to do is to come into a competition as the favorite there's so much added pressure Lacey was definitely coming in from that angle for almost eight years there were times where Lacey maybe should have won I think there was a lot riding on doing well and when that didn't transpire I'm sure that can be heartbreaking in its own way I need for a long time maybe she was actually uncomfortable being in the eye of so many people and not truly being accepted for who she is this is just how it is like this is just I just thought that's how it was we've come a long way in skating in terms of acceptance but there have been very very few openly gay skaters wasn't like a welcoming thing you know to queers and skateboarding there's this molding that try that people try to force upon you know women in skateboarding it did make a big difference what you look like as a female athlete and not all the girls looked the part you had to be the whole package you couldn't just let your skating speak she had the long blonde hair she had a little of the look but she didn't that wasn't her I remember one specific thing someone told me was like well all the boys are wearing girls pants now so you should do it I was like I don't want to wear them though I knew it was only a matter of time that she just said eff all y'all and I'm gonna be Who I am only like the prettiest ones get so weren't like it just didn't make any sense you know I mean it made perfect sense but uh it was just unfortunate I think maybe those were like growing pains really see we all loved skateboarding for its freedom of expression and when that's shut down she's fighting for her right to be who she is Lisa Smith's getting strong she looks like she's ready for action here she brought like an entirely different demeanor to that contest I wanted to win I wanted to because I'm like I've been doing this for so long like why haven't I like won in X Games like ever in my life so I just remember like he's practicing that run for hours and hours and hours each day I was doing commentary and I could tell that Lacey was gonna be one of the favorites when she was practicing but that happened every year prior to that it was just that she came with a strategy and that was the best thing for him it was just like between Leticia I [Music] really think that their runs work very much on par and then it wasn't until the end of Lacey's run when she turned everything she'd Beck's at 270 frontside flip consistent Figgy I think is what set her apart from the TCC Leticia obviously she killed it but we are all rooting for Lacey it was like this moment of silence even though we all knew and I was like holding back so hard when she finally won it was a big emotional moment for not only just for her but for her friends too I remember texting with my mom going finally it was pretty incredible to see her finally win that gold I think that people wanted it for me for so long and so when it was finally about to happen they just couldn't like wait to like shake me it was a really awesome moment people were like really stoked to see if underrepresented types of people on top and like if I can do it anyone can personally it was a huge feat but for the industry at the time they're like whatever so she won and she still had to go get a job like that's insane well I went to school to become graphic designer and then hired at a company I worked there for two and a half years well it's hard enough to make a living as a pro skater there are very few that can make a good living at that and it's even more challenging if you're a female because the prize money is lower the sponsorships are fewer and far between and so for lacy even though she is successful it's a struggle I mean without question I just felt like this drive to do something and I like wanted to be skating so I kind of just put my two weeks in and then I moved to New York and then since that happened my whole life has changed and I just really fell in love with the way the city operates and like the feeling of being here I just feel motivated and when I wake up I want to do like everything like my life now for the first time ever it revolves around my progress in skateboarding like I'll put everything that I have into it [Music] growing up Laci was really just ahead of her time she's always been so true to her and it's finally paying off that she hasn't conformed to what the world wanted her to be because now it's okay to be her you know it's like I'm obviously queer like that's how I present myself all the time so I made that decision to be authentic to who I am and people saw that like I got on a Nike about a year ago and since that happened I've been able to really pursue skateboarding in a way that I never have before I just really feel like I'm actually a part of something it's a big deal for them to come in and trust her who she is in her image there are a lot of people out there that maybe identify with even some of the struggles that she's had she's the voice for so many I think one of the most important things that she's doing with that platform is opening up the world of skateboarding to a completely different audience the quality campaign was super rad seeing and identifying as a gay woman that speaks to me and that speaks to so many people it's exciting that kids will want to get into skating because of someone like Lacey and they deserve to there are squares everywhere everywhere like there's people like me and so for there to be visibility for that makes it really powerful and hopefully inspiring for everyone to just really go for what they want just be true to yourself and I think that's always the message you know the culture of action sports is so much bigger than the sports itself lace is creating a space for people to be who they are and I think that she's gonna be remembered [Music]

Channel: X Games

Views: 107,717

Keywords: yt:quality=high, X Games, XGames, X-Games, action sports, extreme sports, lacey, baker, being, x games, minneapolis, 2018, Lacey Baker being, being Lacey Baker, Lacey Baker x games, Lacey Baker x games minneapolis 2018, being series, x games being series, being x games, being video, x games being video, world of x games being, world of x games 2018, x games minneapolis 2018, x games minneapolis, moto x step up, Lacey Baker documentary, Lacey Baker feature

Id: CkU-6BGw1KQ

Length: 9min 47sec (587 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018