Globe World Championships
10-11-12 Feb 06
Globe kicked off the 2006 skate contest circuit with their Global Assault which for the first time ever was broadcast live over the web to the entire planet. Skateboarding has officially hit the big time when you see the size of the course your favourite pros got to skate down under, and the number of screaming fans and groupies that lines the packed stadium bleachers. Next stop the Olympics..?
Kicking things off were the Girls Heats and finals. There is a clear divide in female skating today: On one side you have the ‘kickflip to fakie on the flatbank’ gang, and on the other side the girls have metaphorical big balls and skate like the boys. I won’t comment on the first group, but the elite few that qualify for the ballsy group are definitely worth watching. Right, Elissa Steamer won which is no great surprise, but she was under some serious competition by the likes of little Evelien Bouillart from Belgium. Evelien is coming up really fast and will sack herself on the rails if that’s what’s necessary to push the limits. No pussy footing here! Lauren Perkins stepped it up for third place, whilst last years hopefuls Amy Caron and Vanessa Torres placed further down. All that’s needs to be sorted now for the girls is bigger prize money, don’t you think?
There wasn’t so much of a vert comp as such at the Global Assault, but there was a fuck-off massive roll-in and quarter pipe! I don’t know how high things are going to get on vert in the future, but air miles must come into the equation somewhere. The vert best trick was a close call between Sandro Dias, Pierre Luc Gagnon and outsider Rob Lorifice. Sandro smacked out a huge judo 540, but Pierre Luc wouldn’t give up the first place, and in case anyone wanted to try him for it, he landed a caballerial varial heelflip! Rob made a name for himself by landing third with a lovely Misty Flip 540 a.k.a. the Rodeo. Now the men could be separated from the boys as the Highest Air comp got underway. I’m not knocking anyone here, but the veterans who learned from the school of Hosoi know what hangtime really means. In third place we had PLG (again!) with a 13ft air. Nice, but not as nice as seeing Jocke Olson nudge above him for 13ft 6 inches. Finally it was the new vertical sensation, Jake Brown, who sealed the deal with an astonishing 14 foot air straight up and out of the atmosphere- Call us when you get down, mate!
Right, now we can get down to business with the toughest discipline to judge- the street comp. The judges don’t get it easy by having to watch so much talent rip up such a massive course, so if you placed in the top5 you can call yourself a winner. Groups of skaters took their turns during the endless heats to battle it off with the rails and hips. This format was used last year and proved to work better as the skaters felt like they were taking part in a jam among other pros, instead of the focused stress and attention of a one man demo run. Being a truly Global event, there were riders from all over the world racing across the course, notably Ross McGouran from Great Britain and Danny Hamard from France- both qualified after winning different Wild Card Globe events. In the end, it was local talent Tommy Fynn and Chris Wood who wowed the judges and made the cut to the semi-finals. Despite being definite contenders for the future, the two Aussies couldn’t beat the best.
The final was really just a personal opinion as to who wins. The last 6 were as follows: Ronnie Creager, Greg Lutzka, Chris Cole, Rick McCrank, Nyjah Huston and Ryan Sheckler. Any one of those pros could have won, but in the end it was little Sheckler, who isn’t all that little anymore, and what he does lack in height, he gains in his ability to kill a flurry of obstacles. Even tiny Nyjah Huston, who trailed second, only fell on about two of the many tricks he pulled all weekend. If this is the future, then the veterans had better be ready for a beating!
Go to www.globe.tv for all the trimings and peep at Chris Cole at the comp here.
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
13/02/2006