Gold Means Go
By O Dedo & Enzo
EXPN.com
Mar. 23, 2002
The second day of X Games qualifying finals took place on these beautiful event grounds and once again Philly will see two more athletes gracing the field of competitors. This day produced two stoked Brazilian qualifiers one in Skateboard - Park and one in Wakeboarding.
The Skateboarding Park finals went down on this day where the sun was blazing and the course was as hot as a skewer full of chicken hearts straight out of the Brazilian BBQ. The temperature and blasting sun didn't take away from the energy level of the competitors, and let me tell you these Brazilians are on point. The hometown favorite Allan Mesquita had the crowd in a frenzy every time he stepped on his board, and the crowd itself was more excited than in almost any contest I've ever seen. These people were absolutely ballistic with their enthusiasm and every time a camera was pointed their way their reactions were as if they had just won all the free beef they could eat… for the entire year.
Although Allan Mesquita, AKA The Mosquito, skated strong in the prelims yesterday, he couldn't quite feel his on game today and ended up with third. "I'm very happy to win in my hometown and the crowd really helped me skate well today."
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| Hometown favorite, Allan "The Mosquito" Mesquita, like a stalefish out of water. |
Despite Allan's barrage of crooked grinds, big spinning transfers and a frontside flip on the quarterpipe the two brothers, Rodolfo and Wagner Ramos, seemed to be a bit more consistent. The curly haired duo took charge of the course and dissected the terrain with style. Wagner, the second place finisher who has already qualified for X Games VII, put together a run that included an indy grab over the hip, a kickflip onto the fun box with a nollie heelflip out, a switch heelflip on the quarter, a nollie 360 flip and a varial heelflip over the hip. Tricks must run in the family because his brother Rodolfo put together his winning and X Games qualifying run with a high stalefish on the quarter, a kickflip to long manual on the mini ramp deck, a f/s tailslide to 180 out, a f/s nosegrind on the short bar, a nice tail grab over the hip and also f/s grinded the funbox with a 180 out. Whew, that was a mouthful. Skateboarding in Brazil is blowin up and these two add to the international exposure that Brazilian skaters are getting. See you in Philly boys…
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| Gold medalist and Brazilian Shigueo Kamogawa shows his winning form. |
Now you might have thought from the vibe of the wakeboarding finals that a bunch of buddies got together on a Saturday to go out riding. The competition was relaxed and there was a lot of camaraderie amongst the finalists. Yeah there was the gorgeous setting with "Corcovado" (the giant statue of Christ ) overlooking the lagoon, the crowd roaring their approval and an armada of photographers with lenses longer than my leg but other than that it was just bunch of guys having a good time.
Third place finisher Mario Teles De Menenes summed it up this way. "Great event. Huge crowd, huge coverage. And above all good vibration, everybody united together in the spirit of the X games. Everybody together and just having a good time." Mario was definitely feeling the love, when he pulled a heelside frontside 720. That was only the third time he's ever landed it and the first time this trick has been performed in competition in Brazil.
Juan Martin took second and made the effort to get up to Rio from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He made it despite all the economic madness down there. He was low on cash but his Dad fronted him the money to come up. He said he didn't decide to come until the day before event. Of travelling and wakeboarding Juan said, "I wish I could do this forever".
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| Wakeboard competitors, the de Palma Brothers (upper right - Ezequiel and lower left - Alejo) their Dad and buddy, drove 3,000 km or 1,800 miles in two and a half days from Argentina in a '81 Ford Van. Ezequiel said after the comp, "I'd do it again." |
The winner Rafael Shigueo Kamogawa, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, claims that he has only wakeboarded three years and only rides on weekends. He also claims to have learned English from wakeboarding mags. But he's no claimer. He rode the best and rightfully claimed the prize.
When Rafael, the fourth X Games qualifier here in Brazil, was asked to comment on the significance of having this event in his country, he expressed what all action sports athletes here in Rio have already proven, "I think we'll show the world that Brazil's not only Soccer."
Related Photos:
Skateboarding Park Finals
Women of Brazil
Women of Brazil - 2
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