At first, all pro skaters were American or at least lived in the US, but as skateboarding grew this changed. In the 80’s there was a major surge of talented skateboarders from Europe, South America and Australia who were on the same level or in some cases were better then top US skaters.
As a result, American skate mags began to feature more international skaters, who bought new styles and innovative new tricks to the table. This coupled with a rise in international skate competitions and worldwide skate tours helped transform skateboarding from an American phenomenon to a global sport.
Have a look at this list of the top 10 best non US skaters.