20 competitors, 40 runs, and tons of fans - were you at the Skateboard Park Finals? Well if not you missed out on some super consistent effort and lots of hard workin' heat affected technical displays. Hot, hot, hot! That was the theme for the day. The sun was shining and the kids were out in full force, hangin' whatever they could over the guard rail in order to get their hands on some free proddy. As the gear got tossed from the VIP area to the commoners, the little tonsils were a' flappin in wonderment and approval.
Screaming (insert pro skater name here) at the top of your lungs dehydrates like a night at the bar with Charles Bukowski. So one thing everybody was doing was pounding the water like Rocky after the 14th round. Sal, as usual, was in the crowd pumpin' up the people and Dave Duncan was on the Mic callin' out the tricks like the consummate skateboard professional he is.
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| Rodil on the center ledge |
The contest was set up so each competitor had two runs and the best score of either would take the cake. The park course was set for multiple sports - BMX, Inline and Skateboarding - So one side of the park has big transitions, roll-ins, obstacles and lines that not many people were hitting during the comp.
"This stuff's fun but it's not pro contest stuff. You can't do a really hard trick on a big ass ramp. You can just do like an air, and that sucks." - Rick McCrank
That being said, most competitors stayed on the more skateboardish side of the set-up (The center wedge, the flat rail, the down rails, the hips and the ledges) with a few outstanding exceptions like Chris Senn and Ryan Johnson. These guys are very exciting to watch because they skate fast and they put together lines that no one else really tries. Ryan was the first in the comp to put together a transfer line through the "Liberty Bowl" and Chris was the only one to bust wall rides off the big transition (incidentally it was right across the huge X Games logo - Senn the marketing wizard?).
So back to the skateboard friendly side. Many people were showing off with technical wizardry, and after the first round, Rodil de Araujo was on top with a blistering run filled with switch crooks over the center ledge, a 360 flip over the big center wedge, and a smooth b/s lip over the flat bar. Crowd favorite Kerry Getz (with pops in the stands cheering him on) moved into third after his first run. He cleaned up a solid f/s 5-0 down the flat, and a nice kickflip b/s 180 over the hip, and a f/s lip over the flatty. Rick McCrank was doing this ill ollie over the center wedge to 5-0 down the box, and some stylee f/s airs over the hip. But a couple of sketchers kept him from the top three after the first round. Eric the "Medal Collector" Koston was pulling out some of his great style but just couldn't get it together and placed low after the first round. Darkhorse Caine Gayle skated flawlessly during his first run, a nose slide down the center ledge, crooked grinds and a cab fakie ollie over the hip. He couldn't land half his tricks during the second run, but he didn't have to.
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| Rodil about to pull down the 360 flip. |
The second round saw the heat affecting everybody and the energy was a little low. Maybe it's always that way in Brazil because Rodil could do no wrong. The man was a switch monster pulling out the big backwards skills. Switch crooked grind on the center ledge and a switch f/s tailslide on the stair ledge put him in good standing with the judges. At this point Kerry, Koston and McCrank still hadn't run the course so the anticipation was high. Getz managed to beat out Caine for 2nd place by throwing out combonations of kickflips, 5-0s, f/s and b/s lipslides. But Rick and Eric just couldn't pull it together to move up into the podium spots.
You can kind of see it (the affects of the heat) in everybody's energy, it's just hard. It was just hard for people to keep going in this kind of weather. It's long and it's hot and it's hard to keep your energy high and keep a smile on your face. It's tough." - Eric Koston
The Brazilians were stoked because after this amazing display Rodil secured his 1st place spot and got to add to the national pride present in the stands. First Bob in vert then Rodil in park, the invasion of the South Americans goes to show the skateboard dedication present in their beautiful country.
"Rodil won last weekend in London as well, he's kind of a little machine. He did tricks both forward and switch. All the difficult stuff, the rails the ledges, the flip tricks, and that's what really locked it for him he had no falls." - Dave Duncan
A hot day and great skating from the Brazilian made the competition exciting, but the heat took it out of everybody. Next year's course…do I hear indoor park?
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