Awe-inspiring athlete born without legs scores epic skateboarding record
“No legs, no limits”.
These are the words Kanya Sesser lives by – a motto that the fierce pro-skater continues to prove true as she shatters stereotypes one gravity-defying trick at a time.
Paralympic athlete and surfer, Hollywood actress and runway model, 31-year-old Kanya is a force to be reckoned with, and can now add a world record title and being a star of Guinness World Records 2025 to her long list of triumphs.
She has successfully completed the longest Handstand on a Skateboard (LA3) – an impressive feat that saw her supporting herself on her hands atop her board for a whopping 19.65 sec.
The record was achieved in Los Angeles, California, USA, and it left Kanya feeling amazing.
“I think it’s one of the life-changing career moments that have happened to me,” she said about her record-breaking handstand.
“It’s so incredible to me to make history for others to see. I have made an impact on others for the next generations to come,” she added.
Born in 1992 with a congenital absence of both legs, the 31-year-old skateboarder had a rough start in life.
When she was only an infant, Kanya was found at the side of the road by a woman who was passing by a Buddhist temple school in Pak Chong, Thailand.
After her cries attracted the woman, Kanya was promptly taken to the hospital.
There, a nurse (affectionately dubbed ‘Nurse Mae Chan’) and the hospital personnel took care of her until 1998.
In May of that same year, life changed again for five-year-old Kanya.
Adopted by an American family, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where she grew up with her parents, Jane and Dave, and her two older brothers.
“Someone who’s been a monumental part of my life is my mom Jane and all of the Thai woman nurses who helped raise me to become a strong independent woman,” she says now about the people who continue to inspire her.
“But I also felt like it was genetics for me to be who I am today! Sometimes we just have it within our soul and blood but others help push you to become who you are today.”
This is me and I’m going to go for it – Kanya Sesser
Kanya faced several challenges during her initial time in America and remembers that the language barrier was one of the most frustrating obstacles.
Furthermore, due to having webbed fingers, she underwent several surgeries on her hands.
However, fiercely independent and always true to herself, she found strength in the difficulties.
Looking back, Kanya remembers herself as a “wild child”: outgoing and determined, she quickly surrounded herself with friends, loved to play with her friends in the neighbourhood, and joined the cheerleading squad until her first year of high school. In high school, she also booked her first modelling gig.
“I was one of the popular kids and always had a fascination with living life on the edge and the thrill of it all,” she says.
Meanwhile, guided by the desire to always try new things, she also delved into plenty of adaptive sports: she tried wheelchair racing, wheelchair rugby, swimming and sledge hockey only to name a few.
It was then that she discovered skateboarding, noticing the board that one of her friends had from her brother. She decided that she wanted to give it a go, and immediately fell in love with the thrill of the ride.
“My first attempt was riding down the hill by my house and it was the best feeling ever!”
Record-breaking skateboarding tricks
After that first ride on her friend’s skateboard, Kanya was hooked. “Since that day, I asked my mom for a skateboard,” she remembers.
After that, she started going to her local skatepark to cultivate her newfound passion while also succeeding as a track and field athlete.
“I first started as a Paralympic track athlete, as a T54 athlete in sprint races for wheelchair track racing, where I had my own custom track chair that’s specifically for the track,” she explains.
The athlete started wheelchair racing in middle school and collected several medals at national championships.
“I was the 3rd fastest woman in the world and have qualified in the World Cup in Switzerland back in 2012, and have gotten an all-star medal.”
Although she has retired as a track athlete, that was only the beginning of a scintillating professional career.
Kanya made history of skateboarding by achieving never-seen-before results: a string of successes that saw her being invited to the X Games in 2019.
She also competed in the Dew Tour 2022 in Des Moines, Iowa, where she placed second in women’s street adaptive skateboarding.
In particular, she loves the sense of community that surrounds the sport.
“I have connections with other skaters and adaptive competitions and athletes to skate with, but also build a great community so we can keep the adaptive skate going throughout other generations.”
That’s why it’s important for the adaptive skaters to be a part of the Paralympic Games and have the adaptive skate to keep going in other big skate events for competition – Kanya
Other than her jaw-dropping handstand, she has mastered many complex tricks.
Some of her favourite ones are the 50/50 grind (with the skateboard balanced half on the edge and half off, the trick consists of sliding along an edge or rail using the board’s track instead of the wheels) and the 5-0 (where, instead, the back truck of the board grinds the edge.)
“I love those tricks because it’s just fun to do them and manoeuvre my body,” Kanya explains.
But the sky is the limit when it comes to stunts, and Kanya knows it well: the young athlete has her eyes already set on more tricks that she would like to try.
And, to those who’d like to start skateboarding, Kanya’s main tip is to have a lot of fun!
If you skate, you skate no matter what board you ride. As long as you’re having fun that’s all it matters – Kanya
Kanya’s commitment to excellence begins with rigorous training.
She has a structured routine when it comes to training, and her favourite thing about being an athlete is that it makes her “feel good to be strong”. At the moment, she skates every day and goes out whenever she can, either for a hike or just to stay in nature.
Although she ups her training with different machines, one of her favourite tools when she’s working out is the medicine ball, which she uses for different exercises.
She also works with a coach who guides her on what’s best for her.
After experiencing many different disciplines through the years, she had the chance to develop her own workout routine focusing on herself, her needs and her well-being.
“I focus on what’s best for me and usually when others train with their legs I usually just do a solo workout,” she explains about her tried-and-tested workout routine.
"I don’t ever have to worry about leg day!" she jokes.
Naturally competitive and with a continuous drive to push her limits and achieve new goals, Kanya dreams big and she seizes every opportunity to let her success speak louder than her words.
However, between a record-breaking handstand and an Ollie, she always knows when to give herself some time to breathe and recharge.
“I can be a perfectionist at times,” she confesses, “and I just want to do a lot, but sometimes you have to breathe and self-care yourself, or else you will get anxiety.”
Together with hard work, having fun and maintaining a positive outlook are fundamental for the record-breaking athlete. She also counts “unconditional self-confidence” as the key to her success.
Skateboarding is a lifestyle and I feel free like there’s no limit. I can just ride how I want to, and feel like I’m a part of something awesome with the whole skateboarding culture community – Kanya
TV Star
When she’s not performing nail-biting stunts on a skateboard, you can find Kanya directing her inexhaustible energy to other fields: she particularly enjoys acting, and would like to do more of that in the future.
Proving to be equally at ease on a board and in front of the lens of a camera, the athlete appeared in music videos and starred in famous movies and TV shows such as the 2022 movie Babylon and acclaimed TV series The Walking Dead.
She guest starred in the American action TV show Hawaii Five-0 in the role of the surfer Rosey Valera.
She’s also pioneering a more inclusive fashion industry and has modelled for brands such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Sephora, Sweaty Betty and Adidas Skateboard. She made her official debut on the catwalk during the Victoria's Secret Runway for NYFW 2023.
A positive voice
Beyond her athletic and professional achievements, every day Kanya uses her voice to empower those around her and is a powerful advocate for people with disabilities.
“Just know that you’re not the only one that’s insecure, even the ones who seem perfect they’re not,” she says. “No one’s perfect and we all have our insecurities.”
She also strives to create a supportive community and actively connects those in need with support groups and nonprofit organizations.
Her online platform becomes a powerful tool, then, that Kanya uses daily to inspire others to dream big through her voice and her example.
In fact, helping others through her skateboarding work is one of the things that Kanya loves the most about her life.
Her tricks and skateboarding prowess surely awe the crowds, but they also empower others to achieve their dreams.
“I travel to skateboard and motivate others with skateboarding,” she explains, “and I’m a motivational speaker about my life story to advocate others on being an independent boss woman, that you can have many superpowers, and advocate in disability accessibility rights.”
Being featured in the Guinness World Records 2025 book means that I’m part of something that’s bigger than anything else I have done in the world. And how incredible it is to have my face all over the world. It’s truly an honour - Kanya
Find Kanya’s record-breaking tricks and plenty of other jaw-dropping skateboard records in Guinness World Records 2025, out in September.