Little kids progress in sports at a pretty alarming rate. The bell curve can be pretty steep even in gravity sports, where rubber-band groms bounce back from falls with barely a scrape on 'em (after some crying), and haven't yet developed The Fear, blown ACLs, achy backs, or beer guts. This week, two freakishly talented young rippers who are barely big enough to get their hands around an iPhone have been blowing up the internet with some ridiculous video segments that you might expect to see in an X Games highlight reel.
Augusto Furnaletto's (above) torso is almost the same size at the 9x11 sheet of paper he whips out reading the list of adult tricks he's about to pull off. And pull them off he does... cue the Facebook shares, Mom–Red Bull's en route with a contract!
And then there's this Australian super-grom Quincy "The Flying Squirrel" Symonds. While on vacation, her Dad went out to surf at the legendary Snapper Rocks right, and after finding out where her dad went, said she was going to do the same the following day. Before long, the pint-sized shredder–who has to get three steroid injections a day to make up for her body's inability to produce cortisone–was pumping down the line and using what few grams of body weight she had to throw spray out the back... and blow minds. You can be sure no angry loc dogs are dropping in on this gal, even at Australia's most competitive spots. Just as deft on a skateboard, Quincy would make even a young Kelly Slater jealous.
But which pint-sized kid genius gets your vote? Is Augusto out in front with the bar spins, or Quincy with the cut backs? Will either set of parents be able to give their child phenom a real childhood before the video game contracts, energy drink deals, and contest schedules rob them of it?
About The Author
stash member Ryan Dunfee
Former Managing Editor at Teton Gravity Research, current Senior Contributor, current professional hippy at the Sierra Club, and avid weekend recreationalist.