Brandon Valjalo

Brandon Valjalo (born 11 July 1998) is a South African professional skateboarder who competed in the men's street event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He also competed at the men's street event in Paris. Valjalo is pioneering African Skateboarding by Hosting events and workshops around Africa including Egypt, Kenya and South Africa to name a few countries.

Career Born and raised in Johannesburg, Valjalo first stood on a skateboard at the age of three when he found his brother's old board. He initially began skating as a hobby, but he started winning competitions around the age of nine and began to focus on it after that. He drew inspiration from watching Ryan Sheckler on the television show Life of Ryan. He would often have to take long drives around the city to find safe spots to practice. Valjalo finished first at the 2017 Ultimate X festival to become the African skateboarding champion, and he joined the World Cup of Skateboarding tour later that year. He also competed at the World Skateboarding Championship in 2019 and 2021, finishing in 45th and 69th place, respectively. At the Tokyo Games, he made history as South Africa's first-ever Olympic skateboarder. Despite breaking his wrist a few days before the preliminary heats, he competed with his arm in a plaster cast and finished 18th overall.