Elizabeth Nitu is from Los Gatos, CA near San Jose, and is likely a familiar face if you were a fan of the Villa Villa Cola video Getting Nowhere Faster (2004) filmed by Lisa Whitaker, sponsored by Element and 411VM.
Photos: 2003/2004 Lisa Whitaker
Elizabeth was the 9-year-old child prodigy, doted on by the crew. She grew up skateboarding with her brother Patrick, and gave the impression of being an old soul, especially in contrast to her wild skateboarding companions! Although occasionally she would shyly appear in some of the VVC skits.
At the time of GNF, Nitu had approximately two years of skating experience, and was skating with style and confidence… flip tricks, boardslides, grinds, the works. Here is some “Villa Villa Cola” bonus footage of Elizabeth from 2004:
Elizabeth was a regular at the Vans park in Milpitas, and was taking on the boys her age and beating them consistently at CASL contests. Her sponsors over the years included Popwar, Volcom, Destructo, Es Shoes, Bones, Bill’s Wheels, Roxy and Esoteric trucks.
Photos: Lisa Whitaker 2004 ‘Best Trick’ trophy CASL; Vans Triple Crown 2004 photo is by Chris Stegt; and Roxy photo shoot
Elizabeth had a photo published in Check it Out girls’ skateboard magazine, in issue No. 18 in 2005 when she floated a massive kickflip at the Slam City Jam contest, placing 5th in street!
Photo: Ana Paula Negrao
In 2006, Elizabeth was included in the documentary SkateGirl by Susanne Tabata, and found herself in 2nd place in global rankings for World Cup street events behind Leo Baker after a solid year of competing. And she was consistently taking top ten results in street events until 2010, when she seemed to opt out of the circuit.
Here’s a video of Elizabeth at age 12 in 2006, undeterred by her arm cast:
Elizabeth was celebrated on Lisa’s websites The Side Project and Girls Skate Network, where she was featured in a spotlight interview on April 10, 2008. We learn that her birthday is June 18, 1994 and she started skateboarding because, “I saw kids on my street skating and I thought it was cool” after receiving a board for her birthday. She skated everyday after that even though it was a “banana shaped, cheapy board from Target.” Her three favourite female skaters at the time were Alexis Sablone, Elissa Steamer and Marisa Del Santo. My favourite reply was when she shared her interest in listening to Johnny Cash! Heck yes.
Photos: Lisa Whitaker 2009-2012
Lisa included several features of Elizabeth like “Sunday with the Nitus” on August 2009 and as recent as 2012 with blog cam #38 and blog cam #64 in 2013, alongside friends like Samarria Brevard, Jessie Van Roechoudt, Vanessa Bonilla, Ana Paula Negrao, Amy Caron, Van Nguyen, Taylor Beatty, Lindsay Wallendorf and Tierra Cobb.
I feel like it is safe to say that Elizabeth is still out there totally ruling at skateboarding at her local park, quietly going about her ways without the need for TikTok or viral videos. An inspiration!
Reference:
- Whitaker, Lisa. “Spotlight: Elizabeth Nitu,” The Girls Skate Network, April 10, 2008.
Womxn Skateboard History 