# Maria Reikdal

Maria Joaquina Cavalcanti Reikdal (pronounced; born March 29, 2008) is a Brazilian figure skater and artistic roller skater. She is the 2023 World Artistic Inline Skating junior champion and 2021 silver medalist, the 2023 South American Inline Artistic Skating champion, and three-time Brazilian artistic inline skating junior national champion (2021-2023).
In figure skating, she is a four-time Brazilian junior national champion (2021-2024) and the first transgender woman to compete in an ISU sanctioned figure skating event.

## Personal life

Reikdal was put in foster care at the age of six after neglectful and abusive behavior from her biological family towards her and her siblings. At the orphanage, she suffered bullying from the other kids, as well as physical and verbal abuse from the carers for behaving in a feminine way despite being assigned male at birth. She was adopted, along with her two siblings, by Cleber Reikdal and Gustavo Uchoa Cavalcanti on December 4, 2016. A few months before her ninth birthday, she came out as a transgender girl to her family and, shortly after, began receiving psychological support at the Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo's Research Institute's Transdisciplinary Ambulatory of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation (AMTIGOS).
In 2020, Reikdal managed to legally change her name and her legal sex marker on her birth certificate after a three-year legal battle. That way, she satisfied the skating federations' requirements to skate in the women's category for pre-pubescent transgender girls at the time.
Her journey gained national attention after experiencing discrimination in 2019 during the national and South American artistic roller skating championships. Reikdal became a symbol of the fight against prejudice and was invited to appear in a music video for singer Pablo Vittar.

## Skating career
### Early career

Reikdal began skating at eight, influenced by her parents, both artistic roller skating coaches. She placed second in her age category in the girls' segment at the Brazilian Artistic Skating Championships in 2019, which secured her a spot at the 2019 South American Artistic Skating Championships. However, she was not called up for the competition due to her legal documents not being updated to reflect her name and gender. In Brazil, minors can only get their name changed through a judge's decision and thus, her family had to go to court to get authorization for her to compete. Although granted permission, she faced discrimination at the championship such as not being allowed to wear the official team outfit or use the bathroom at the event. She finished 13th in the competition after falling four times during her performance.
Encouraged by her father and coach, Reikdal decided to focus on figure skating, training on inline skates when ice was unavailable and aiming for the 2026 Winter Olympics. She won gold in the advanced novice category at the 2019 Brazilian Figure Skating Championships with a score of 50.70, a higher score than all the junior ladies' at that year.

### 2021-2022 season: International artistic inline skating debut

At 13, she moved to the junior category and won both the 2020 (which took place a year later) and 2021 artistic inline skating national championships, earning a spot on the national team for the 2021 World Championships. She became the youngest skater on the national team and finished as the junior silver medalist with a total score of 102.99 points. This achievement made her the first medalist from Curitiba in a World Artistic Skating Championship, which earned her a special sports merit medal from the city mayor.
In December 2021, she won the junior title at the Brazilian Figure Skating Championships, landing her first triple jump, a triple Salchow, in a figure skating competition.

### 2022-2023 season: International figure skating debut

Reikdal began 2022 with another Junior national championship win in artistic inline skating, earning a spot in the South American Roller Sports Game. She declined the spot after being invited to attend an ISU training camp in Italy for figure skating, in order to improve her technique and compete at the 2022-23 ISU Junior Grand Prix series.
In July 2022, Reikdal won her second junior title at the Brazilian Figure Skating Championships. In September, she became the first Brazilian-born athlete to compete in the junior women's category in an ISU sanctioned event and the first transgender skater to compete internationally in junior ice skating. In her first competition in September at the 2022 JGP Latvia, she finished 33rd out of 34 skaters. The following month she competed at the 2022 JGP Italy, where she placed 39th out of 44 skaters.
After facing harassment and discrimination from an official of the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation, Reikdal spent four months away from skating before returning in January 2023.

### 2023-2024 season: World Junior artistic inline champion

In February 2023, Reikdal returned to artistic inline skating competition, winning the 2023 Brazilian Artistic Roller Skating Championship at the junior artistic inline category and earning another spot in the South American Roller Sports Games. In April, she won her first South American title in junior inline artistic skating.
In July, she won her third consecutive junior title at the Brazilian Figure Skating Championships, qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix stages in Linz and Osaka. She went on to compete at the 2023 JGP Austria, finishing 31st. She withdrew from her second JGP event in Japan in order to compete at the Artistic Skating World Championships.
In September 2023, Reikdal became the junior inline world champion at the 2023 World Artistic Skating Championship in Ibagué, Colombia, with a total score of 106.66 points. In the mixed zone, she expressed gratitude for the support she received and discussed her future plans, emphasizing the ongoing challenges of dealing with prejudice in sports.

### 2024-25 season

In July 2024, Reikdal competed in the Brazilian Figure Skating Championships, winning her fourth consecutive junior title.

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2024-2025 | What Was I Made For? (from Barbie) by Billie Eilish performed by Lauren Babic | I Dreamed a Dream (from Les Misérables) by Claude-Michel Schönberg performed by Anne Hathaway | |
| 2023-2024 | The Puss Suite (from Puss in Boots) by Henry Jackman choreographed by Luca Demattè You're the One That I Want by John Farrar performed by Lo-Fang A Queda by Gloria Groove | Queen Orchestral Medley Flash's Theme You're My Best Friend Bohemian Rhapsody Crazy Little Thing Called Love We Are The Champions by Brian May, John Deacon e Freddie Mercury performed by Louis Clark, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra e The Royal Choral Society L'Amore Sei Tu by Dolly Parton e Nick Patrick performed by Katherine Jenkins, The Prague Symphonia e Anthony Ingliss Eleanor Rigby (Slowed + Reverb) by John Lennon e Paul McCartney performed by Cody Fry and The Lonely People Orchestra | |
| 2022-2023 | The Puss Suite (from Puss in Boots) by Henry Jackman choreo. by Luca Demattè Parte do Seu Mundo (from A Pequena Sereia) by Alan Menken performed by Kiara Sasso | Rio Mamooth (from Ice Age: The Meltdown) Morning Routine (from Rio) Flying (from Rio) by John Powell Market Forro (from Rio) by Carlinhos Brown and Mikael Mutti choreo. by Luca Demattè Libertango by Astor Piazzolla por Bond Libertango by Astor Piazzolla performed by Octeto Erica di Salvo Tango de Los Exilados by Vanessa-Mae Mi Buenos Aires Querido by Carlos Garcia Victory performed by Bond La Cumparsita by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez | Parte do Seu Mundo (from A Pequena Sereia) by Alan Menken performed by Kiara Sasso |
| 2021–2022 | Never Enough (from The Greatest Showman) performed by Boyce Avenue | Caruso performed by Lara Fabian Nessun Dorma (de Turandot) by Giacomo Puccini performed by Katherine Jenkins | Caruso performed by Lara Fabian Nessun Dorma (de Turandot) de Giacomo Puccini performed by Katherine Jenkins Colors Of The Wind (from Pocahontas) performed by Tori Kelly |
| 2019–2020 | A Whole New World (from Aladdin) por Lea Salonga e Brad Kane Finale Ultimo (from Alladin) performed by Aladdin's Original Broadway Cast | I Am What I Am por Gloria Gaynor | Rajadão performed by Pabllo Vittar I'm Still Standing (from Rocketman) by Elton John performed by Taron Egerton |
| 2018-2019 | | I Will Follow Him (de Sister Act) performed by Deloris & The Sisters | |

## Competitive highlights
### Figure skating for Brazil

International: Junior :
| Event | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| JGP Austria | | | 31st | |
| JGP Italy | | 39th | | |
| JGP Latvia | | 33rd | | |
| National |||||
| Brazilian Championships | 1st J | 1st J | 1st J | 1st J |
| J = Junior level |||||

### Artistic inline skating for Brazil

International: Junior :
| Event | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| World Championships | C | 2nd J | | 1st J |
| South American Championships | | | WD | 1st J |
| National |||||
| Brazilian Championships | 1st E | 1st J | 1st J | 1st J |
| Levels: E = Espoire; J = Junior C = Cancelled |||||