Cindy Whitehead

Whitehead began freestyle skateboarding at Hermosa Beach Pier, California, alongside notable skateboarders such as Steve Rocco.[5] After the opening of Skateboard World Skatepark in Torrance, California she began skating halfpipe.

In early 1978 she competed at the Hang Ten Olympics at Magic Mountain, in California representing Skateboard World Skatepark and performing a freestyle skateboard routine to The Steve Miller Band's song, “Swingtown”. Whitehead placed third for girls ages 13–17.[6] Also in 1978, She was approached by photographer Bruce Hazelton to shoot a series of photos of her skateboarding the plexiglass 360 ramp at Fountain Valley Skatepark in Fountain Valley, California, for Wild World of Skateboarding Magazine. The photo and an article were published in the June 1978 issue, making her the first woman to have a center photographic feature and two page profile in skateboarding.[7][8] At the 1978 Skateboarding Nationals she placed 4th among the women in her age group.[9]

In 1980 she joined the Sims Skateboard team owned by Tom Sims. Its team members at the time included; Brad Bowman, Bert LaMar, George Orton, Mike Folmer, and Marc Hollander. She was the only female team rider at the time.[10] Also in 1980, Whitehead was invited to compete as a pro in The Gold Cup Series which staged five pool riding contests at skateparks up and down California. Overall she placed third in the series.[11]

After retiring from professional skateboarding in 1984 she became a sports stylist for athletes and brands, doing work on campaigns for Nike and Adidas as well as several well-known athletes.[12]

In 2016 Whitehead was inducted into The Skateboarding Hall of Fame.[23]

Her ‘70s skate history as well as prototypes from the Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word collection sit in the Smithsonian Museum of American History’s sports collections in Washington, D.C.[24][25] as well as The Smithsonian Museum’s "Girlhood (It’s Complicated)" exhibit which opened October 8, 2020.[26]