Today marks International Women’s Day, which seemed like an appropriate opportunity to check in with Poppy Olsen, who’s one of the best female park skaters in the world. Poppy has been in the spotlight since she was a little kid ripping Bondi Bowl, winning all sorts of contests and attracting attention from all sorts of media outlets. She even did a TedX talk back in 2014. 

Right now, Poppy is ranked fourth in the world in Women’s Park Skateboarding and she’s on track to compete in the Olympics this year. But it has been a strange road to Tokyo, with the coronavirus pandemic throwing the world into chaos, delaying the Games by a year (so far) and leaving Poppy separated from her Canadian girlfriend Una Farrar for 10 and a half months. The good news is that Una has made it to Sydney and she and Poppy have begun a new VX video series called Dear Diary, showcasing their day-to-day skate adventures. With the first episode of the series dropping today, we had a chat with Poppy about what’s happening in her life at the moment.

Interview by Nat Kassel. Photos by Wade McLaughlin.

Hey Poppy, you’ve recently moved from Newcastle to Newtown, in the inner west of Sydney. How has that change been?

I grew up in Bondi and lived there until I was 15, so it’s not like a whole new experience. It’s just getting used to the large amounts of people and terrible traffic again. I had gotten pretty used to the Newy lifestyle and honestly thought I would never move back to Sydney. But Newtown is such a cool area filled with cool characters. Una [Farrar] and I have been loving it. I miss my dog so much though. Holy moly, I love her!

Tell us about your Dear Diary project. What’s the concept behind it and how did it all start? 

I was super keen to get a camera and start filming with our friends and make some dinky skate videos with little art bits slotted in here and there. Una has had a VX for a while now, so we started mucking around with some stuff. Then Vans got stoked so that was super cool.

Barging the barrier.

You’ve been skating comps since you were a little kid. Is filming your own VX clips a big change from the comp circuit? 

[Laughs] it definitely is different, but I’m having such a great time doing it and filming with my friends. I like that I don’t have to deal with people that prioritise winning over having a good time. I can just have fun skating and try to get stuff that I’m stoked on. Contests are stressful but exciting. I’ve been doing them for a very long time and it was all I ever knew for a bit, so it’s so nice to start doing other things. There are some pros to doing contests, and for me, it’s getting to travel to beautiful parts of the world that I would never usually get a chance to see. Plus, getting to hang out, skate and party with my friends and hopefully make some money [laughs]. 

What’s the deal with the Olympics? Reckon it will go ahead in July?

The Olympics is so up in the air and unorganised with COVID restrictions and so forth. Who knows what’s going to happen? The last qualifier is happening in America at some point, but it’s just a waiting game at this stage.

Poppy plants one over the barrier.

Have you got any ideas for the second episode of Dear Diary? Any dream locations you’d like to visit? 

We are constantly filming but our plans are often changing, so it’s hard to predict what the second episode will look like. I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand though, or even back to Tassie. I think either of those places could make for a super fun skate trip with the crew.

How has the pandemic and its associated drama been for you? I know you were separated from your girlfriend Una Farrar for quite a long stretch of it. It must be great to have her in Australia now.

I don’t like swearing but fuck COVID [laughs]. I was separated from Tubs for 10 and a half months and it was the hardest year for both of us. It took that whole time to get her here and I still can’t believe it happened. We’re both very lucky and grateful. It’s so great to have her here. It’s winter in Canada so Una has been loving the weather, and it’s been so nice skating and going on adventures together.

What are your plans for International Women’s Day? Are you celebrating?

I think it’s really super great that there’s a day where women are celebrated. It also brings awareness to a lot of people of just how far we still have to come. I just find it frustrating sometimes when people use these single days of the year to show they support the matter then couldn’t care less when it comes to the other 364. There’s some really amazing female and non-traditional skateboarders out there that struggle to get any recognition in the industry. So as long as International Women’s Day brings the awareness back and keeps the momentum moving forward, I’m super stoked!

Drifting a beaut backside ollie. 

Check out Dear Diary with Poppy, Una and friends HERE.