Day one from Barcelona and it was hot all over. Hot women, hot sun and some heated competition in BMX Flatland and Inline vert. With two coveted spots
available for the X Games next month, the finals were packed with talent.
Plenty of big name riders like Martti Kuoppa, Michael Steingraeber, Viki
Gomez and Phil Dolan were all in the finals. They all are already qualified
for the X Games.The course was lined three-deep as the local crowd took a
definite liking to the event and riders. Looking on from the athlete's tent
was 2001 X Games Park winner, Bruce Crisman, giving support to his friends.
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| Effraim punches his ticket to the X Games. |
Gomez took home the gold in Spain with a clean second run that had the crowd
and the other riders roaring. Dolan and Steingraeber took silver and bronze,
both of them showing that they are ready for Philly. Alex Jumelin will make
a return trip to the X Games after spinning his way into fourth, good enough
for the golden ticket. Effraim Catlow picked up the remaining ticket to
Philly via his second run.
Flatland has a much greater fan following throughout most of the world than
it does in America, as is evident in Spain. Although the guys don't "go big"
there is something about the sport that sets it apart from Vert and Park.
The amount of concentration and need for balance in linking tricks which
mostly don't even have names is hard to comprehend unless you see it in
action.
Overlooking the beach was the vert ramp and despite an off-ocean breeze, the
Inline men were looking for their own ticket to the City of Brotherly love.
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| Viki Gomez, champion in Spain and REALLY ripped. |
At first, it looked like the vert prelims were judged by a group of devoted
Spaniards. The Spanish skaters represented a solid portion of the top ten,
but all with good reason. There were no surprises here. French skater
Anthony Avella placed eighth after two solid runs that were chock full of
technical lip tricks and flat spins. 12-year-old prodigy, Kevin Lopez
shocked and dazzled the crowd with enormous flips and spin tricks to finish
6th. Borja Fernandez pulled an amazing 1st run, and then topped it in his
2nd run to place 4th, one solid place ahead of his Bilbao cohort Jose Felix
Hormaetxe.
The top three skaters are no strangers to the X Games line-up. Last yearīs X
Games champion Taig Kris, after a rough injury last week in Paris, pulled
out two surprisingly strong runs to finish 3rd. Nel Martin pulled huge airs
and a series of clean technical tricks to finish 2nd. Once again though, the
perfect flow and grace of Hollandīs Sven Boekhurst launched him into the top
qualifying position. The competition was fierce, but it was obvious that the
competitors were holding back. Stay tuned for the inline vert finals where
the competitors will put everything on the line for the chance to visit next
monthīs X Games.
With the weekend coming that means two things in Barcelona, plenty of skate,
BMX and Inline finals action and plenty of bar-hopping and clubbing. Stay
tuned to find out who is going to the X Games and who was passed out on Las
Ramblas from too much sangria and partying.
Related Photos:
Barcelona Day One Gallery
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