LOS ANGELES — Encinitas Skateboarder Bryce Wettstein advanced to the Women's Park Final on Tuesday evening, finishing 6th.
Although she didn't take home the gold, Wettstein had an indoor skatepark full of supporters to watch her Olympic debut.
One of them was Ruby Lilley, an anxious friend watching every single run in the Women's Park Skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 14-year-old went to the downtown Los Angeles watch party, hosted by Bones Love Milk, a brand represented by some of the heaviest skaters in the game, including herself.
Lilley has been skating with all of the Olympic competitors for years.
"They're so encouraging and so nice, and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm skating with Bryce or Sky, this is crazy!'" Lilley said, still shocked that she knows them personally.
It's a sport Lilley fell in love with four years ago by emulating her two older brothers, but then she ended up being really good at it, too.
In fact, Lilley was an alternate for the Tokyo Women's Skateboarding Team herself.
But the skater said she was rooting for her good friend Bryce Wettstein, who competed in the Olympics for Team USA as the top-ranked American in Women's Park Skateboarding at just 17 years old.
"Hi guys, I'm Bryce, and I think Tokyo is the most absurdly lovely place in the world, and we're all feeling really incredible, aren't we?" Wettstein said in a cell phone video with her team that she captured before hitting the big stage.
"Oh my gosh," Lilley responded. "Every time I think about it, I'm just like oh my gosh, Bryce. I just want to cry for her. She is like, just deserves everything."
And when Wettstein finally took the bowl for the prelims, the entire Berrics skate park turned to watch, including skate legend Christian Hosoi.
"I love watching her skateboard. Her approach, her trick selection — everything that she does is unique. It's independent. It's individual. She doesn't try to be like anyone else," he explained.
He's here letting off some steam with the rest of the crew, stopping to advise the next generation of skaters who share his love for the sport.
Hosoi said it's bigger than bronze or gold. Women's skateboarding on a global platform at the Olympics is already a huge win for its future.
"I knew that women could do it. It's just they had to be encouraged to believe in themselves, and I've always been behind them," he said.
For skaters like Ruby carrying on the baton, to see someone so humble competing in such a high place is indescribable.
"She makes everybody feel special, like she is," Ruby said.