It came down to the wire in Shanghai but Australia's Arisa Trew came out on top at the first stop of the Olympic Qualifier Series. Watch her second run to see some seriously badass tricks in a run that would not quit!
Make sure to stay tuned for the next stop in Budapest from June 20-23!
The women’s Park semi-finals from Shanghai were a nail biter! We are not going to give away anything here. Except that FIVE out of SIX USA women made it into the semi’s. Minna Stess, Jordyn Barrett, Bryce Wettstein, Grace Marhoefer, and Ruby Lilley. Just tune in above and watch it go down.
Tomorrow we will have the women’s finals posted to watch as well, so stay tuned!
Get Ready!
There are only TWO more stops for the top 44 skaters in the world before the Olympic teams are selected. Currently there are six USA Women in the mix for Park, and four USA women in the mix for street.
After Shanghai, the Budapest event will take place from June 20-24
Each of the four events—Men’s Park, Women’s Park, Men’s Street, and Women’s Street—will feature 22 athletes in Paris, for a total of 88 skateboarding athletes overall.
On 24 June 2024, the skateboarders ranked in the top spots in these rankings will obtain quota spots for Paris 2024. A maximum of three athletes from each National Olympic Committee (NOC) may qualify for each event: So each Olympic team could feature, at most, three men and three women each in street and park, for a total possible squad of 12 skateboarders. Each continent is allotted at least one athlete.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation.
The points on offer at OQS - a two-part qualifying series - will be worth much more than what was previously offered in phase one meaning no one in their current ranking is safe.
Skaters will have their points from part one, with their points from Shanghai and Budapest (the second stop for OQS) combined to form an official ranking from which the final field for Paris 2024 will be decided.
You can watch all the action from OQS in Shanghai live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.
16 May: Women’s Park Preliminary Round
17 May: Women’s Street Preliminary Round
18 May: Semifinals for all events
19 May: Finals for all events
)Hiraki Kokona (JPN)
Kusaki Hinano (JPN)
Sky Brown (GBR)T
Naia Laso (ESP)
Yosozumi Sakura (JPN)
Minna Stess (USA)
Raicca Ventura (BRA)
Ruby Trew (AUS)
Bryce Wettstein (USA)
Lilly Stoephasius (GER)
Arisa Trew (AUS)
Ruby Lilley (USA)
Lola Tambling (GBR)
Dora Varella (BRA)
Grace Marhoefer (USA)
Yndiara Asp (BRA)
Hasegawa Mizuho (JPN)
Jordyn Barratt (USA)
Lillian Erickson (USA)
Isadora Pacheco (BRA)
Sugawara Mei (JPN)
Cho Hyunju (KOR)
Nakamura Kisa (JPN)
Emilie Alexandre (FRA)
Heili Sirvio (FIN)
Fay Ebert (CAN)
Julia Benedetti (ESP)
Poppy Starr (AUS)
Charlotte Heath (AUS
)Nana Taboulet (FRA)
Gadea Moja (ESP)
Lilly Strachan (GBR)
Aaliyah Wilson (AUS)
Coco Crafter (AUS)
Li Yujuan (CHN)
Hedda Hjertberg (SWE)
Zheng Haohao (CHN)
)Victoria Bassi (BRA)
Lucrezia Zarattini (ITA)
Madeleine Larcheron (FRA)
Fernanda Tonissi (BRA)
)Ceci Rendueles (ESP)
Alisa Fessi (AUT)
Aya Asaqas (MAR)
Nishiya Momiji (JPN)
)Rayssa Leal (BRA)
Oda Yumeka (JPN)
Chloe Covell (AUS)
Akama Liz (JPN)
)Nakayama Funa (JPN)
Yoshizawa Coco (JPN)
Pamela Rosa (BRA)
IIto Miyu (JPN)
Paige Heyn (USA)
Gabi Mazetto (BRA)
Roos Zwetsloot (NED)
Cui Chenxi (CHN)
Daniela Terol (ESP)
Liv Lovelace (AUS)
Keet Oldenbeuving (NED)
Haylie Powell (AUS)
Zeng Wenhui (CHN)
Natalia Munoz (ESP)
Mariah Duran (USA)
Lucie Schoonheere (FRA)
Lore Bruggeman (BEL)
Jazmin Alvarez (COL)
Poe Pinson (USA)
Candy Jacobs (NED)
Charlotte Hym (FRA)
Felicity Turner (AUS)
Ha Siye (KOR)
Kemily Suiara (BRA)
Zhang Yan (CHN)
Zhu Yuanling (CHN)
Isabelly Avila (BRA)
Jessica Ready (NZL)
Afrika Criado Oliva (ESP)
Aldana Bertran (ARG)
Jeromine Lourvet (FRA)
Samantha Secours (CAN)
Vareeraya Sukasem (THA)
Lan Junyi (CHN)
Ailin Arzua (ARG)
Meagan Guy (USA)
Marina Gabriela (BRA)
Weronika Choromanska (POL)
Boipelo Awuah (RSA)
6 Women will move on to the Final to battle it out for the trophy at the SLS first-ever Championship Tour stop in San Diego!
Women’s Group 01: Gabriela Mazetto, Paige Heyn, Liz Akama, Funa Nakayama, Raysssa Leal
Women’s Group 02: Wenhui “Zoe” Zeng, Aoi Uemura, Yumeka Oda, Momiji Nishiya, Chloe Covell
Stay tuned for the finals and a recap of everything that went down!!
Chloe Covell has been on a roll this year! Watch this just released video of how Chloe won SLS Paris.
So much talent and all the women pushing hard for that podium finish in women’s street. Watch until the end - because things take a huge twist!
Image Via World Skate
We were up at 3:30 AM PT today to watch the women’s semi-finals and these ladies did not disappoint. Some seriously rad skating went down. We can only imagine what they will bring for tomorrows finals!
Image via World Skate
Image via World Skate
Three American women made it through to the semi -finals - veteran skaters, Minna Stess, Jordyn Barratt and Bryce Wettstein. Japan is pushing hard, Spain is in the mix as well, France and Brazil have one skater each, Australia has Ruby Trew, Arisa Trew and and Coco Crafter, and Lola Tambling makes up the lone spot for GB (since Sky Brown is not competing due to pursuing her qualification in Puerto Rico for surfing in the Olympics) - this is a semi-final that we have not seen in the past! I know that we will be on the edge of our seats for this one!
Image via World Skate
That Women’s Open was intense - so many skaters throwing down great runs (we were able to see parts of it via parents live streams on Instagram and some replays from World Skate) But the filed had to be narrowed down and this is how it went.
Quarter Finals happen Friday in Dubai (which is Thursday evening in the USA) - and again this section of the comp is NOT on a live stream (ARGH!).
It should be a great comp and we will be updating who makes it to the semi-finals and how to watch that event LIVE, tomorrow!
The top 29 advanced to the quarter-finals
Yosozumi Sakura (JPN) - 82.00
Ruby Lilley (USA) - 77.50
Hasegawa Mizuho (JPN) - 76.65
Isadora Pacheco (BRA) - 74.13
Arisa Trew (AUS) - 74.00
Naia Laso (ESP) - 73.75
Bryce Wettstein (USA) - 73.33
Li Yujuan (CHN) - 72.26
Aaliyah Wilson (AUS) - 70.00
Ruby Trew (AUS) - 69.00
Kaihara Asahi (JPN) - 67.25
Lilly Strachan (GBR) - 67.00
Jordyn Barratt (USA) - 66.90
Lola Tambling (GBR) - 66.85
Nakamura Kisa (JPN) - 66.80
Julia Benedetti (ESP) - 66.60
Sugawara Mei (JPN) - 66.46
Emilie Alexandre (FRA) - 66.32
Fernanda Tonissi (BRA) - 66.07
Madeleine Larcheron (FRA) - 65.80
Lillian Erickson (USA) - 65.60
Lilly Stoephasius (GER) - 65.55
Grace Marhoefer (USA) - 65.50
Heili Sirvio (FIN) - 65.40
Coco Crafter (AUS) - 65.10
Lin Yi-fan (TPE) - 58.63
Poppy Starr (AUS) - 56.00
Helena Laurino (BRA) - 49.00
Cona Suganami (USA) - 46.47
Image via World Skate SB
Welcome to Dubai!
The upcoming Park Pro Tour Stop will be from February 25th to March. 3rd. Right after that will be the Street Pro Tour Stop from March 3 through March 10th . Both of these competitions will take place at the brand new skatepark located in the area of Dubai Harbor.
Over 500 skateboarders are expected to be in Dubai to compete at this event and the pressure is on. This event determines who will move on to eventually qualify for the Paris Olympics this summer.
The event will be the last chance for skaters to accrue points towards their Olympic World Skate Ranking (OWSR) before a cut is made - using those rankings - ahead of the second phase of qualification, the Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS).
The OQS is a two-part competition series taking place in Shanghai (16-19 May) and Budapest (20-23 June) and will be the settings to determine the final fields for Paris 2024.
The 44 highest-placed eligible athletes per gender in the OWSR after Dubai will be invited to the OQS respecting the following principles:
No more than six athletes per country per gender per event (respecting the order of the OWSR)
At least one highest-placed athlete from each continent for the representation of all continents
At least one highest-placed athlete who is a national of the Olympic Games 2024 host country France
At least one highest-placed eligible athlete who is a national of the OQS host country, (People’s Republic of China and Hungary)
At least one Universality places eligible athletes
The stakes, therefore, going into Dubai are high with spots in the next stage of qualification on the line.
USA’s Minna Stess is pre-seeded and ranked #1 in the USA - Image via World Skate SB
The top five seeded skaters in the OWSR will skip the qualifiers and join the contest in the quarter-final phase.
Hiraki Cocona (JPN)
Kusaki Hinano (JPN)
Sky Brown (GBR) - not competing
Raicca Ventura (BRA)
Minna Stess (USA)
Women’s practice
Women’s practice
Women’s practice
Pre-seeded women’s practice
Women’s Open QualifierPre-seeded women’s practice
Pre-seeded women’s practice
Women’s Quarter-final practices
Women’s Quarter-final
Women’s Semi-final practices
Women’s Semi-final - LIVE!!!
Women’s Final practice
Women’s Final. - LIVE!!!
Team riders Mazel Alegado and Brooke Benton win their divisions at CASL National Championships
What a fun weekend! CASL National Championships were this weekend, and they even had a live stream. Four of our Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word team riders competed this weekend and had a blast!
Team rider Mazel Alegado is the new CASL National Champion for Girls Open Advanced Vert and Bowl.
Team Rider Brooke Benton is the new CASL National Champion for Girls Street.
Congratulations to Brooke, Mazel, Elle Warne, and Anna Shea for being invited to compete and for putting together and executing some great runs!
Maya Kenny competing in Rome at the Park World Championships - Photo Lauren Brooke
This weekend skateboarders involved in competing at Olympic Park Qualifiers got a bit of a rude awakening. It was quietly announced that World Skate had changed the Olympic Park Qualifiers from the beginning of January to almost the end of February and the location was changed from Sharjah to Dubai.
Image via World Skate
You might be thinking “we are in November, so that’s not too bad…” but a lot of athletes had already purchased their flights for the qualifier, lined up their hotels or airbnb’s and arranged their schedules accordingly.
And this does not even include, or address, the park skaters that already flew in and are currently in Sharjah practicing at the park where the event was supposed to be held.
Sharjah is fairly close to Dubai (about a 20 to 30 minute drive by car) so you may also be thinking “they can just go practice at the other park!”. The issue is what park? The parks in Dubai are not set up for this style of Park Qualifier. Kite Beach Skatepark (also known as X Dubai) is the largest and nicest of the bunch. it has a bowl, a pool, rails, ledges, quarter pipes, and hubbas, but it is not built like a “park” that is used in Olympic qualifiers.
So, the question people have is; Is a new park being built to be ready in time to the next qualifier? Most likely. Is this a way to keep some skaters from having extra practice time prior to comps? Maybe. The X Games does it. Vans Park Series used to do it as well, so it is not unheard of. And yes, when the Olympics roll around it will be at a park specifically built for the Olympic venue and practice will be regulated so everyone has a fair shot.
Check out California Skateparks instagram to see if you see anything soon about them building a park in Dubai - that may be the most information we get at this early date. They are known to rally and work fast so maybe this is wha tis happening - too soon to tell though.
But back to this February Park Qualifier.
In case you didn’t know, another interesting thing about Park Qualifiers - they do not run on a normal calendar year schedule - such as, January to December for the “season”. We just had the World Championships in October in Rome so most people assume that this would be the end of the “season”. NO. We have one more comp left in the “season” and that will now be Dubai. So, all skaters that have been competing so far, are invited.
Image via World Skate
Then in May there is a qualifier in Shanghai and then another in Budapest in June - these two are only for the top 44 skaters and they lead up to who eventually goes to the Paris Olympics in July.
WHEW! We know it’s confusing, but we hope we have helped shed some light on some of the craziness!
Watch Rayssa Leal, Chloe Covell, Momiji Nishiya, Paige Heyn, Roos Zwetsloot and Pamela Rosa battle it out for the W in Sydney! Next stop - SLS Super Crown World Championship going down in São Paulo on Dec. 2-3rd!
Side Note: Women in street are keeping busy traveling around the world - between SLS stops and Olympic qualifiers they traveling are competing constantly, and have the ability to make money at each comp. This is something we need in park skateboarding as well. Where is the equivalent SLS series for park? We had that with Vans Park Series. Do we think anyone else will step up and we will have that kind of tour again? Fingers crossed!
Hedda Hjertberg
Photos by @lauren_brooke_photography - if using on social please credit!
We are so lucky to have photos of the vert comp from the talented Lauren Brooke Photography to share with you! Scroll down and soak up all the vibes from this amazing day!
Enjoy!
Grace Marhoefer
Joey Yarbrough
Jordyn Barratt
Juno Matsuoka
Kihana Ogawa
Mazel Paris
Tuli Lam
Kihana Ogawa being celebrated after throwing down a backside tailslide shove it to win “Best Trick”
Mayzie Feher
PHOTOS @ianloganphoto x @girlisnota4letterword - please credit both if using on social - thanks!
Exposure Skate happened at Poods Park in Encinitas this past weekend and if you weren’t there you missed a GREAT event! Non-traditional skaters of all ages skated hard and had a great time with friends. They cheered for each other, pushed their own limits and showed just how fast the newest generation of skateboarders are progressing!
Thanks to Amelia Brodka and Lesli Cohen as well as ll the volunteers that make this huge event happen year after year!
Scroll on for more visual goodness!
Anna Shea
Brooke Benton
Lulu Johnson
Nico Suganami
Elle Warne
Mazel Paris
Kate Kuno
Tilda
Joey Yarbrough
Samantha Tieg
Kihana Ogawa
Jordyn Barratt
Ruby Lilley
Lilly Erickson
Ameia Brodka and Exposure Volunteers
Today’s World Championships from Rome did not disappoint! All eight women in the final were on fire, but at the end of the day, one American stood on the podium along with two Japanese skaters. At just seventeen years old, Minna Stess, from Petaluma, California, pulled off what no other American female park skater has done - she made the podium at Olympic Qualifiers. Minna’s third-place finish now makes her the highest-ranked American woman in park skateboarding, which is a considerable feat!
There was a lot of stiff competition from the Japanese skaters. Cocona Hiraki had three flawless runs, and Hinano Kusaki was able to bump Minna from second to third at one point, but no one else in the field could crack the 90s scoring-wise that these three had on lock. They were in a league of their own, and the crowd loved it! The only other American to make it to the finals was Ruby Lilley, who placed seventh with a score of 84.40.
It was an exciting event, and we hope you watch the replay and see how much women’s skateboarding has evolved in the past few years - simply amazing!
Congrats to all the women who competed today!
Hiraki Cocona (JPN) 94.54
Kusaki Hinano (JPN) 93.20
Minna Stess (USA) 90.80
Raicca Ventura (BRA) 87.59
Naia Laso (ESP) 86.25
Lilly Stoephasius (GER) 84.79
Ruby Lilley (USA) 84.40
Yosozumi Sakura (JPN) 83.53
It was a nail biting semi-final, but when the final run was tallied, these eight women made it to the World Championship’s final! From ages fourteen to twenty-one and hailing from five different countries this is truly one of the best finalist groups we have seen!
Two Americans out of the five made it to the finals, Minna Stess and Ruby Lilley - big congrats to these ladies!
Today’s quarter-finals had 32 women competing for one of sixteen spots in the semi-finals. Tomorrow a total of eight skaters will move on to compete in the finals on Sunday for those three coveted podium places.
This is not only the World Championships but this Olympic Qualifier means more points for skaters as we head into the Paris Olympics - so there is a lot at stake!
These are the skaters that made it into Saturday’s semi-finals:
Kokona Hiraki (JPN)
Raicca Ventura (BRA)
Hinano Kusaki (JPN)
Dora Varella (BRA)
Lillian Erickson (USA)
Sakura Yosozumi (JPN)
Ruby Lilley (USA)
Minna Stess (USA)
Naia Laso (ESP)
Isadora Pacheco (BRA)
Bryce Wettstein (USA)
Arisa Trew (AUS)
Ruby Trew (AUS)
Hyunju Cho (KOR)
Lilly Stoephasius (GER)
Grace Marhoefer (USA)
With five USA women in the semi-finals along with skaters from Brazil, Australia, Spain, Germany and Korea in the mix, it doesn’t feel as if Japan is fully dominating as it has in past years. This group of women should make for a great semi-final!
SATURDAY:
6:30 AM PT / 9:30 ET
Livestream coverage of WST Rome Park 2023 World Championships will be available to watch worldwide on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com
Get ready because this event is seriously gnarly!
The entire MECCA Ditch team is beyond excited to officially announce the addition of a WOMEN’S SKATEBOARDING DIVISION for the 2023 MECCA Ditch Race!! This overdue addition includes a $1,000 cash purse and custom trophies for the top 3 racers!!
We hear that badass Judi Oyama , Meghan Zuniga, Jennifer Coppa and Lari Rupp and some other badass women plan on showing up and shredding hard - this event is not for the faint of heart!
The third annual MECCA Ditch Race is lit to pop on October 7th of 2023 in the desert just east of Las Vegas, NV!! Nestled between two red rock mountain ranges, this seemingly unexpected venue is the site of the official ISSA Prime Sanctioned World Banked Slalom Championships!!
The MECCA Ditch Race is a multi-discipline, traditional race structure (using ISSA rules), single-day event. All skateboard and QUAD competitors are welcome to attend (ISSA points are only applicable to the skateboard divisions).
They will have a separate skateboard division for Men and Women and will track ISSA points for Pro, Am, and Master's brackets. We will have a roll-in ramp option for the skateboard banked slalom event and QUADS will begin from the top corner of the dedicated QUAD ditch.
MECCA Ditch Race 2023
DATE ║ October 7th, 2023
LOCATION ║ MECCA Ditch in the Las Vegas Desert
10.06 | FRI - Site/event prep, course setup, practice runs, and pre-event meet/greet.
10.07 | SAT - Skateboard and QUAD Banked Slalom races followed by awards ceremony.
Check out the Mecca Ditch Website for MORE INFO!
USA Skateboarding had its #ecosystems contest this past week and we are proud to say that three of our team riders placed in their divisions!
Congrats to all the girls who competed - you were all amazing!!
Read on for more results!
Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word team rider, Klara Kermoade earned a well deserved 1st place in Women’s 13 and Under Bowl. Her run was powerful and full of back-to-back tricks. She’s only 13 and after watching this, we can’t wait to see her future progression!! Get ready!!
Team rider Elle Warne resides in Utah where it’s hard to skate in the winter, yet somehow this young shredder always finds innovative lines and trick combos no matter what time of year it is. Entering into her freshman year of High School, we hope 14-year-old Elle encourages other girls in Utah to skate with her - maybe by forming a skate club at her high school. Her well deserved 3rd place finish in 14-16 year old Women’s Bowl at this comp makes her one to watch!
To win “Best Trick” in the Women’s division (all ages) is a major thing - and when you are 12 it’s even bigger! Team rider Briel Weingartner has been on the scene pushing the boundaries for young women in street skating for awhile now. It’s awesome to see her recognized for her innovative style and trick execution!
