CONTESTS

Why Mark Suciu Doesn’t Have an Issue With Taking Contest Money

Published

5 years ago

July 29, 2018

Skate Newswire

Mark Suciu is the thinking man’s skater. Highly intelligent with a repertoire of tricks that ooze creativity, Suciu doesn’t make a move that’s not calculated. Given this, his decision to skate SLS for the first time in 2018 came as a bit of a surprise to many. He’s been to college, is sponsored by adidas, and has numerous amazing video parts under his belt with more to come in the future. SLS seemed about as far from Mark’s trajectory as a Monster Energy sponsorship.

Suciu sat down with Route One during SLS’s Pro Open stop in London this past May for an interview in which he breaks down the factors that lead him to decide to compete this year. While a lot of it has to do with challenging himself, he admits that it was in part about money. And he can justify that because the generation before him created today’s current contest climate.

But then also, there’s money. I actually read this beautiful article by Ocean Howell that he wrote when he was still going to school. It’s a 20-page thing. He’s writing about the first X Games in ’95 or so. When Koston did it… and all these dudes. They were being vocal about how they were only doing it for the money. “Fuck X Games. Fuck all these major corporations. This is not cool. This is not what skateboarding is about. We’re only doing it for the money…” What Ocean Howell points out is that they really fucked up there because that was the ticket that X Games was waiting for. They didn’t have that opportunity before. Nobody had taken the money yet. And they couldn’t get into this industry that was so punk rock, so cool, so anarchist, so countercultural. They knew they would make tons of money. They just couldn’t get in. So Koston and those dudes, they blew it. No disrespect, I’m doing the same thing here. But now it’s in a different context.

Watch the entire interview above. The selected quote begins at the 9:10 mark.

UPDATE 8/1/18: Suciu talks internet personalities, literature, and the Olympics in Part 2 of Route One’s interview. Watch it below.

Related Topics:Archived Mark Suciu Street League

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CONTESTS

Brazilian Skaters Sweep SLS 2023 Super Crown in Hometown Victory

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2023

Skate Newswire

It’s a double win for Brazilians after Rayssa Leal and Giovanni Vianna took home the Championship Crown for Street League Skateboarding 2023 held on their home turf last weekend.

In the men’s division, the top qualifier from the knockout round, Vincent Milou, was the one to beat with a total score of 36.3 from his line score of 9.4 that he earned in his second run and trick scores of 8.8, 9.1, and 9.0.

But Vianna swooped in and took the lead after scoring 9.4 in his 4th trick. Adding this to his highest line score of 9.1 and trick scores of 8.8 and 9.1 for his first two attempts, Vianna was able to bring his score to 36.4.

Milou tried to recover his spot with his final trick but failed, sealing Vianna’s claim to the super crown.

Meanwhile, 2022 Super Crown Champion Gustavo Ribeiro made it to third place with a final score of 27.1.

He was initially in the lead with a line score of 9.3 in his first run until Vincent Milou topped his score with his second run for the line.

Ribeiro dropped into 4th place but made a comeback with his fourth attempt for the single tricks, edging out Felipe Gustavo. Felipe failed his last two attempts in the trick round and remained in 4th place.

With a final score of 31.9, Rayssa Leal got her second straight Super Crown in the women’s division. Momiji Nishiya and Paige Heyn completed the podium in second and third place, respectively.

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CONTESTS

IOC Announces Winners of First Let’s Move Street Challenge

Published

3 weeks ago

November 15, 2023

Skate Newswire

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has revealed the first-ever winners of the Let’s Move Street Challenge – the unique online competition supported by Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung, inviting BMX, Breaking and Skateboarding enthusiasts to showcase their best moves and creative skills.

Twenty-one winners from 13 countries have been selected by the judges from thousands of entries, unlocking an all-access trip to watch some of the best athletes competing for their ticket to Paris 2024 at the first Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai.

LET’S MOVE STREET CHALLENGE WINNERS

BMX Freestyle Park
Melville Smith (United States of America)
Ozawa “Miharu” Miharu (Japan)

BMX Real Street
Andres “Mickey” Michael (New Zealand)
Eleonora (Greece)

BMX Dirt
Tommy Crail (United States of America)
Michelle Neuner (Switzerland)

Skateboarding Park
Eddie Acres (Australia)
Malgorzata Burkacka (Poland)

Skateboarding Real Street
Carlos Burgos (Cuba)
Guadalupe Aime (Argentina)

Skateboarding Street Park
James Huntley (New Zealand)
Keily Frank

Breaking Best Round
Penny “Penny” Deng (People’s Republic of China)
“Vinilla” Yelyzaveta Ovcharova (Ukraine)

Breaking Power Move
Pisani “Arthur” Alves de Silva Arthur (Brazil)
Bgirl Small (People’s Republic of China)

Breaking Footwork
Keith Jennings “Ghost”
Adejoke “Cruxy” Victoria Akinbogym (Nigeria)

Street culture
Jonatan Mineiro “Ze pequeno BMX” (Brazil)

Best produced
Maxime Castillon (France)

Most surprising video
Higor Cruz “Higorcruzb” Balthazar (Brazil)

These 21 award winners selected by the judges will now have the opportunity to experience first-hand the athletes’ Road to Paris 2024, with an-all access trip to an Olympic qualifying event in Shanghai in May 2024.

The new Olympic Qualifier Series is a four-part event series that will bring together the best athletes in one urban park for a festival-style event and will serve as the ultimate qualification stage for BMX Freestyle, Breaking, Skateboarding and Sport Climbing.

At least half of the qualification spots for Paris 2024 will be allocated through the Olympic Qualifier Series, with 464 athletes set to compete.

The winners were revealed during a one-off, 60-minute show streamed on Olympics.com, bringing together participants, fans and athletes from across the three sports to celebrate the competition and the sports and communities surrounding them.

It was hosted by BMX rider Darryl Nau, and featured judges Christie Hughes (BMX), Suzanne Reekers (Skateboard), BBOY Spin (Breaking) and Little Shao (Creative).

Fans were also able to join a live chat to share their reactions to the winners and interact with each other and had the chance to win exclusive Let’s Move Street Challenge merchandise.

The Let’s Move Street Challenge, supported by Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung, is a new Olympic initiative from the IOC. It is a unique digital competition that invited people from around the world to showcase their sporting and creative talent in BMX, Breaking and Skateboarding.

With the vision of being open, accessible and inclusive and providing inspiration to practise sport, competitors were invited to enter the challenge by submitting a 30-second video of themselves performing their best move.

All the Olympic Street Challenge entries are available to watch now on Olympics.com.