Diego
Poncelet
Spain
·
Skateboarding
Date of birth | 27 July 1999 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Mexico City |
Age | 27 |
Nationality | Spain |
Career start | 2017 |
Discipline | Downhill skateboarding |
Diego Poncelet was born in Mexico and raised in Spain and Switzerland by a Spanish mother and a Belgian father. From a young age, he was drawn to adrenaline and his favourite compliment was always when others called him 'crazy'. At first, this manifested in a love for motor racing and freeride skiing, but it was with downhill skateboarding that he found his calling: a sport that bridged his love of motorsport with a young and alternative skateboarding culture.
His first encounter with the sport came in an unexpected way: as a kid, he was walking down the street when he saw someone skating down a steep hill at high speed. In disbelief, Diego was sure that the skateboarder must have crashed at the roundabout below, but found no traces of an accident. That feat, which he saw as heroic, sparked a quiet curiosity: how did this skater defy the laws of gravity? This take a more solid form years later as a teenager, after meeting other skateboarders who taught him their art of descending mountain roads and controlling their speed, becoming one with their boards. To this day, Diego hopes that he can pay back his debt and inspire kids the same way he was inspired then.
In 2017, while recovering from a broken leg and facing a difficult period mentally, away from his passions, Diego made a vow: one day, he would become world champion, no matter the sacrifices. By 2020, Diego hadn't lived up to his high expectations and was struggling to break into the top group of riders. These hardships only served to fuel his fire, however, and made him train even harder, transforming each defeat into a lesson. Soon, Diego was shaping up to become the best European on the circuit, winning continental races with an innovative technical style that came as a surprise to others, but due to the pandemic, he was unable to test his skills against the best riders outside of Europe.
After years of hard work, he arrived at the first post-pandemic world championship, but after a two-year hiatus, no one knew how he would measure up. To everyone’s surprise (including his own), Diego won the race in dominant fashion. He went on to win seven of the nine races he entered that season. The highlight came in the season finale: locked in a fierce battle with his main rival, the race featured five back-to-back overtakes. In the final corner, Diego made a daring move, diving into a rough patch of pavement beyond the edge of the road where no one else had dared to go. It paid off. That bold manoeuvre secured him the victory and earned him the world title, which he successfully defended the following year in Erzincan, Turkey, after another commanding year.
Through his refined, technical approach and a discipline that distinguished him from the rest, Diego ushered in a new era for his sport, one that's now beginning to flourish. Currently, his sights are set on a new challenge - and his hardest one so far: breaking the skateboarding speed record of 146.73kph.
On the side, Diego has linked his passion for skateboarding with his interest in filmmaking as a means to transmit the human side of the sport. Through two short films, he's tried to pay homage to personalities within his scene that have struck him, and whose stories he would like to immortalise on the screen. He has also completed a bachelor’s degree in international relations in London, which helped to shape his worldview and created a sense of social responsibility that guides all of his projects.