They call her “The Robot” because she can do almost anything on a skateboard, but Australia’s youngest Olympic gold medallist Arisa Trew only got into the sport because the water was too cold for a surf.

The 14-year-old is part of a growing number of talented Gold Coast skaters – some as young as three years old – training at a private academy in the hopes of making the big time.

Trew’s coach Trevor Ward, a former pro skateboarder, started the Level Up Academy in 2022 as a pathway for young skaters.

He had a goal of getting the sport into the Olympics by 2028 and did not think it would be included sooner.

“I was part of a culture that no-one really wanted years ago and now it’s like, you’re sitting there, they built a brand new skate park and you’re looking across onto the Eiffel Tower,” he said from Paris.

Mr Ward said Trew’s journey to becoming Australian’s youngest ever Olympic gold medallist, at age 14 and 86 days, was down to her determination and talent.

“She’s pretty unshakable as a person,” he said.

“We nicknamed her ‘The Robot’ … I tell her what to do and she goes and does it — she executes.

Surf culture breeds skate talent

Another coach at the Currumbin training academy, Tasman Cahill, said Trew arrived about four years ago after she decided she could not get into the colder water for a surf on the Gold Coast’s beaches.

It didn’t take her long to feel at home on a different type of board.

“She’s alright [as a surfer],” Mr Cahill said.

Ado Cominskey, who trains younger kids at the skate school, says a strong surfing culture has helped shape the city’s skateboarding talent.

The Gold Coast’s Keegan Palmer and Chloe Covell also competed in Paris.

“We are a surfing mecca and surfing is the forefather of skateboarding,” Mr Cominskey said.

“It is in our veins, literally.

“The skate community on the Gold Coast, and especially on the southern end of the Gold Coast, is key to its strength, because it is just incredibly dedicated and passionate.

Trew’s ‘720’ trick stardom

The Palm Beach teen was catapulted to super stardom last year when she landed a “720” – a trick involving two full mid-air rotations – and became the first woman to execute the manoeuvre in competition.