Young skateboarder Vareeraya Sukasem returned home to a warm welcome on Wednesday morning after making an impressive debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.
The 12-year-old, who became Thailand's youngest ever Olympian and was the country's flag bearer during the opening ceremony, competed in the women's street event on Sunday.
Vareeraya, nicknamed ST, finished 17th in the preliminary round and did not qualify for the final but won over a lot of new admirers due to her brave performance in front of a packed Place de La Concorde in Paris.
"I am so excited. This is something new that I have never experienced before," said a beaming Vareeraya after receiving a bouquet of flowers from a fan upon her arrival at the airport with her mother Tulraya and American coach Kenny Reed.
"This is actually my first ever flower bouquet," she added.
"Competing at the Olympics has always been my dream. I wanted to get a medal. But I will continue to improve, learning from all the great athletes, and practising new moves and tricks.
"I didn't expect to have so many people today to give me encouragement. I would like to thank everyone for the support."
Her mother Tulraya added, "I hope ST can inspire other Thai kids to start skateboarding. If she can do it, everyone can do it."
