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Headline archive 2011
These are the headlines of www.SlalomSkateboarder.com as they appeared in 2011.
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Emilie Gascon (front) and Lisa Farrows attack the start of the hybrid slalom course at the World Championships in Ottawa. Photo by Paul Price.
[August 23, 2011 by Jonathan Harms & Jani Söderhäll]
The detailed result spreadsheets are available for download!
Complete results (PDF)
Tight Slalom
Hybrid Slalom
Giant Slalom
And to honor those that merit, here's the top 4 GS racers in each category. Available for easy access and admiration!
GIANT SLALOM RESULTS
Pro
1. Joe McLaren, USA
2. Martin Reaves, USA
3. Janis Kuzmins, LAT
4. Adam Schwippert, USA
Women
1. Lynn Kramer, USA
2. Emilie Gascon, CAN
3. Lienite Skaraine, LAT
4. Julie Boulanger, CAN
Amateur
1. Lou Statman, USA
2. Sebastian Vorholter, GER
3. Pascal "Rookie" Jean, CAN
4. Curt DeBartolo, USA
Masters
1. Brad Jackman, USA
2. David Hackett, USA
3. Keith Hollien, USA
4. John Stryker, USA
Juniors
1. Thomas Duplessis, CAN
2. Gabe Duquet, CAN
3. Jeremy Fugate, USA
4. Dan Duquet, CAN
[August 21, 2011 by Jonathan Harms]
Ricard, Statman and Jackman Win Their First World Titles, Duquet His 2nd, Kramer Her 18th (!)
Rain forces Hybrid qualifying results to stand as final results
Three new world champions were crowned in the Pro, Amateur and Masters categories in Saturday's hybrid slalom event, while Gabe Duquet earned his second world title and the legendary Lynn Kramer added an 18th world championship title to her already amazing list of accomplishments. Race organizer Claude Regnier's course on Ottawa's Carling Avenue was long and fast, with a good mix of straight sections, offsets and step-overs to keep things interesting.
Unfortunately, the event was interrupted by rain with just one run remaining in the second round of Pro qualifying. The resulting delay forced Claude to make the difficult decision to use
the qualifying results as the final results. The racer on the starting ramp when the rain came, Karl Floitgraf, graciously agreed to accept a "DNR" for his second run to allow the results of both rounds to be counted.
In the Pro division, Louis Ricard overcame a shocking first-run DQ with a sensational second run to edge Joe McLaren and earn his first world championship title. Ricard hit four cones on his second run, but his blistering raw time of 24.811 on the approximately 300-meter-long course was more than enough to overcome the total .8-second cone penalty and place him about .2 seconds ahead of McLaren. Robert Thiele ran a clean 26.345 to claim third place ahead of Adam Schwippert.
In the Women's division, Kramer earned her 18th individual event world title with a time of 29.532 seconds. Canada's Julie Boulanger, Latvia's Lienite Skaraine and Canada's Emilie Gascon repeated their placings from Friday's tight slalom event.
In the Amateur division, Lou Statman from Dallas, Texas achieved his goal of winning a world championship by beating Canada's Pascal "Rookie" Jean and the USA's Curt DeBartolo. From the very first race of the year, Lou had made it no secret that he was taking this race season seriously, and his training and dedication paid off.
In the Masters, Brad "Jackhammer" Jackman from the northwestern U.S. state of Washington edged Florida's Keith Hollien by less than .1 seconds and his own training partner in Washington, John Stryker, by about .3 seconds to earn his first world title. Black Leather Racing icon David Hackett placed fourth.
And Gabe Duquet claimed the world title in the Junior division, leading an all-Canadian top four
that included Friday's TS champion Thomas Duplessis, Duquet's brother Dan and Riley Schroeder. This was Duquet's second world tile; he also won the Junior hybrid crown at Hood River, Oregon in 2009.
HYBRID SLALOM RESULTS
Pro
1. Louis Ricard, CAN
2. Joe McLaren, USA
3. Robert Thiele, GER
4. Adam Schwippert, USA
Women
1. Lynn Kramer, USA
2. Julie Boulanger, CAN
3. Lienite Skaraine, LAT
4. Emilie Gascon, CAN
Amateur
1. Lou Statman, USA
2. Pascal "Rookie" Jean, CAN
3. Curt DeBartolo, USA
4. Pierre Gravel, CAN
Masters
1. Brad Jackman, USA
2. Keith Hollien, USA
3. John Stryker, USA
4. David Hackett, USA
Juniors
1. Gabe Duquet, CAN
2. Thomas Duplessis, CAN
3. Dan Duquet, CAN
4. Riley Schroeder, CAN
Latvia's Janis Kuzmins in the first run of the tight slalom finals against Joe McLaren at the World Championships in Ottawa.
Photo by CL Buchanan Photography
[August 19, 2011 by Jonathan Harms - PDF added August 21]
In a break with tradition, the 2011 World Championships of Slalom Skateboarding began with
tight slalom. Although the TS was originally planned to take place on Carling Avenue, a major
street in Ottawa, the race was moved to Dovercourt Avenue due to the much higher cost of
closing Carling Avenue for an extra day. (The hybrid slalom and giant slalom will still take
place on Carling Avenue on Saturday.)
Claude Regnier set a somewhat innocent-looking TS course that turned out not to be so innocent.
The first half of the course was mostly straight, with most cones set at about 6 to 6.5 feet
(1.8 to 2.0 meters), but then took a quick dive to the left, then right, and then left again,
before ending in about 15 more mostly straight cones. Many riders had difficulty making it
through the tricky curved sections, resulting in a lot of DQs and double DQs in both qualifying
and bracketed racing.
One person who didn't seem to have much trouble was Latvia's Janis Kuzmins, who scored a
convincing victory over Colorado's Joe McLaren in the Pro division. Although Joe had qualified
#1 and had only hit one or two cones in most of his qualifying runs and early head-to-head runs,
he hit an astonishing 13 cones in his first run against Janis in the finals, while Janis ran clean,
leaving Janis with a 1.5-second advantage going into the second run. To score his second TS world
championship (his first was in 2007), all Janis had to do was cruise and make sure he didn't DQ.
But instead he attacked the course as though he were the one who needed to make up a huge deficit.
He again beat Joe to the line and again ran the course completely clean, leaving no doubt that he
deserved the title of World Tight Slalom Champion.
In the Women's division, Lynn Kramer again dominated the field, earning her 17th world championship
individual-event title. Canada's Julie Boulanger, Latvia's Lienite Skaraine and Canada's Emilie Gascon rounded out
the top four.
The Masters division featured some very fast racing, rivaling some of the pro times.
The tighter the course is, the more Florida's Keith Hollien likes it. "The Machine"
took a well-deserved first place over Northern California's John Ravitch, who had advanced to
the finals by knocking off the legendary HACKMAN THE GNAR, a.k.a. skate legend David Hackett,
in the semis. Hackett rebounded in the consolation bracket to take third place over John Stryker
from Washington. This impressive top four showed that speed, talent and fierce racing are not
just for the young.
Pro Tight Slalom
1. Janis Kuzmins, LAT
2. Joe McLaren, USA
3. Louis Ricard, CAN
4. Richy Carrasco, USA
Women's Tight Slalom
1. Lynn Kramer, USA
2. Julie Boulanger, CAN
3. Lienite Skaraine, LAT
4. Emilie Gascon, CAN
Amateur Tight Slalom
1. Stéphane Fournier CAN
2. Danilo Percich, CAN
3. Pascal "Rookie" Jean, CAN
4. Pierre Gravel, CAN
Masters Tight Slalom
1. Keith Hollien, USA
2. John Ravitch, USA
3. David Hackett, USA
4. John Stryker, USA
Juniors Tight Slalom
1. Thomas Duplessis, CAN
2. Gabriel Duquet, CAN
3. Hubert Roy, CAN
4. Riley Schroeder, CAN
[August 27, 2011 by Rob Ashby. Photos by Sam Gordon]
Mmedo Duffort FR/UK and Michel Dupont FR. Photo by Rob Ashby
This years British Open Slalom Championships attracted the biggest European
field at a British for some considerable time. Riders representing Holland,
Germany, France, Sweden, Czech Republic and Spain as well as an "adopted
Brazilian Brit" and an expat from New Zealand.
Read the full race report!
Hybrid Slalom Results
A Group (top 10)
1. Robert Thiele, GER
2. Tomas Fiala, CZE
3. Michel Dupont, FRA
4. Christophe Dupont, FRA
5. Bruno Silva de Oliveira, GBR
6. Louis Selby, GBR
7. Josef Stefka, CZE
8. Dalibor Danhel, CZE
9. Peter Klang, SWE
10. Petr Janousek, CZE
B Group (top three)
1. Pavel Holec, CZE
2. Eddie Spearing, GBR
3. Vincent Tanguy, FRA
C Group (top three)
1. Tony Lord, GBR
2. Trevor Baker, GBR
3. Markus Kaffke, GER
Giant Slalom (top 10)
1. Dalibor Danhel, CZE - 20.42
2. Robert Thiele, GER - 20.49
3. Ferdinand Lindner, GER - 20.78
4. Michel Dupont, FRA - 20.92
5. Josef Stefka, CZE - 21.08
6. Louis Selby, GBR - 21.12
7. Petr Janousek, CZE 21.13
Tomas Fiala, CZE - 21.13
8. Christopher Dupont, FRA - 21.24
9. Bart Brunninkhuis, NED - 21.25
10. Sam Gordon, GBR - 21.49
[June 29, 2011 by Jani Söderhäll]
Edijs Jermacenko won all junior disciplines. Look out for him in the years to come! Photo by: Jani Söderhäll
Viking Hadestrand winning the special slalom! - Photo: Jani Söderhäll
Janis Kuzmins, special slalom, taking the overall event title. Photo: Jani Söderhäll
Mikael Hadestrand, made it to the podium in every discipline! Photo: Jani Söderhäll
Giant slalom, top 5
1 Gustavs Gailitis, LAT
2 Mikael Hadestrand, SWE
3 Janis Kuzmins, LAT
4. Viking Hadestrand, SWE
5. Ferdinand Lindner, GER
Special slalom, top 5
1 Viking Hadestrand, SWE
2 Janis Kuzmins, LAT
3 Mikael Hadestrand, SWE
4 Marks Kiselovs, LAT
5 Gustavs Gailitis, LAT
Straight slalom, top 5
1 Janis Kuzmins, LAT
2 Viking Hadestrand, SWE
3 Mikael Hadestrand, SWE
4 Gustavs Gailitis, LAT
5 Marks Kiselovs, LAT
Women, top 3 - same podium in all three disciplines
1 Lienite Skaraine, LAT
2 Anna Gailitis, LAT
3 Elise Gailitis, LAT
Complete results (PDFs)
Special slalom
Straight slalom
Viking in the excellent giant slalom course! Photo: Jani Söderhäll
Two great racing days are over! Photo: Miks Braklins for www.skateboardinfo.lv
Brazilian skateboarding - photos by Vitor Vieira
[June 1, 2011 by Guto Jimenez]
The "Projeto Rio Slalom" is a project to develop slalom skateboarding
in Rio de Janeiro state. Its goals are to attract riders for the activity,
to integrate the riding to the respective communities and to publish the
demonstrations on the specialized media. The integration between the
collaborators, the communities and local authorities has proved to be
very fruitful as it's the best way to achieve the objectives.
Each performance on the "Projeto Rio Slalom" will take 2 to 3 hours, in
which the history of slalom skateboarding will be presented through quick
lectures, followed by demonstrations with amateur, professional and
veteran riders, as well as performing "slalom clinics" for the general public.
All those who are interested on the project may join it by simply donating
2 kgs of non-perishable foods, and the total will be donated to specific
institutions.
The project is still in embrionary status. We intend to give a start to
in next Sunday (June 5th), during the "8o Encontro Gonçalense de Longboard",
the 8th annual longboarding meeting in the neighborhood city of São
Gonçalo - the most traditional meeting of longboarders in the state.
Later on, we intend to take slalom skateboarding to beach-front neighborhoods
such as Ipanema, Flamengo or the city of Búzios as well as to less favored
suburban areas, such as Meier and Quintino.
We're doing it by ourselves this year, that is, counting with no help
besides that from the community's local riders. If the project receives
the proper media coverage, we intend to take it to another level in 2012
by involving the authorities in the logistics (and possible financing)
necessary to the demonstrations. Thanks to Flavio Badenes and ISSA for
spreading the word on Rio's scene!
[June 2, 2011 by Jani Söderhäll]
We've upgraded the forum software to the latest phpBB version 3.08.
The new version has some long desired features like automatic image and
attachment uploads by any user. There's also plenty of other goodies,
but probably most important, it's a good platform for future adaptations
and improvements that we may want to add to it.
Enjoy!
[May 30, 2011 by Steve Pederson]
Jonathan Harms and Paul Price in the finals - Photo: Steve Pederson
St Louis - May 29, 2011
Dual Lane Tight Slalom (top 8 Group A - PRO)
1 Paul Price
2 Jonathan Harms
3 Lou Statman
4 Keith Hollien
5 Steve Pederson
6 Jason Yerke
7 Derek Yerke
8 Tod Oles
Complete results (PDFs)
Tight slalom (all categories)
Lou Statman in the St Louis Hybrid single lane course - Photo: Steve Pederson
[May 29, 2011 by Steve Pederson]
St Louis - May 28, 2011
Hybrid slalom, single lane (top 16)
1 Jonathan Harms
2 Keith Hollien
3 Paul Price
4 Lou Statman
5 Steve Pederson
6 Tod Oles
7 Joe Behm
8 Jason Yerke
9 Lynn Kramer
10 Derek Yerke
11 Paul Graf
12 Chris Favero
13 Jeremy Coffman
14 Marcos Soulsby-Monroy
15 Bobby Thomas
16 Evan Tolley
Complete results (PDFs)
Hybrid slalom
[May 21, 2011 by Franco Di Giorgio]
Milan, Italy - May 15, 2011
Hybrid slalom (top 10 Open class)
1 Janis Kuzmins LAT 14,797
2 Maurus Strobel CH 14,919
3 Luca Giammarco ITA 15,240
4 Fabian Koula CH 15,156
5 Jadranko Radovanovic CH 16,328
6 Riccardo Roma ITA 17,476
7 Max Bonassi ITA 18,053
8 Abramo Ponzio ITA 17,700
9 Andrea Just CH 19,252
10 Joe Onorato ITA 19,746
Tight slalom (top 10 Open class)
1 Luca Giammarco ITA 13,849
2 Janis Kuzmins LAT 13,601
3 Maurus Strobel CH 14,176
4 Fabian Koula CH 14,548
5 Jadranko Radovanovic CH 15,280
6 Riccardo Roma ITA 15,985
7 Abramo Ponzio ITA 16,299
8 Max Bonassi ITA 16,508
9 Joe Onorato ITA 17,240
10 Andrea Just CH 17,556
Complete results (PDFs)
Tight slalom Finals
Tight slalom Qualification
Tight slalom Juniors
Tight slalom Women
Hybrid slalom Finals
Hybrid slalom Qualification
Hybrid slalom Juniors
Hybrid slalom Women
[May 16, 2011 by Dan Gesmer, Seismic]
Boulder, CO - After more than two years in development, Seismic is proud to unveil the patent-pending Tekton™ bearing - the bearing behind the Official IGSA Downhill Speed World Record. (Click here to witness the awesome feat on YouTube.)
Said 2009 World Cup Champion Mischo Erban, who set the new record of 80.83mph last fall, "Tekton bearings roll fast, hold alignment better and stay cleaner, longer. It's that simple!"
"The difference is the wide flange at the ends of the integrated half-spacers," said Seismic founder/owner Dan Gesmer. "The big, flat contact surfaces square up, co-align and self-stabilize inside your wheels."
"Once coupled, the Tektons literally block themselves from sitting or rocking out of alignment, so they stay straighter than any other bearing system ever," Gesmer added. "Your wheels roll faster with better control, while the bearings last longer and stay quieter!"
According to Neil Sload of Focus Supply, one of the world's leading suppliers of bearings to top pro skateboard brands, "The Seismic Tekton is by far the most technical skateboard bearing I've ever seen produced."
"It wasn't easy to find a bearing factory capable of manufacturing this design," Gesmer continued. "The integral flanged half-spacers need to be custom-machined, not just cut from a stock steel tube."
Tektons should not be confused with bearings that have their inner races stretched on one side to form a simple half-spacer. Sometimes called "industrial" bearings, these have been used in pre-assembled skateboards since the 1970s, and more recently for racing, but they're still vulnerable to misalignment.
The diameter of the Tektons' flanged contact surfaces is up to 35% larger compared to bearings coupled with floating spacers, and up to 23% larger compared to bearings with stretched inner races. This translates to exponentially better correction for flaws in bearing seat levelness, bearing seat spacing, axle diameter and axle straightness.
"I have total confidence in their ability to push extreme speeds - 80mph and beyond!" said Erban.
Tekton bearings, rated at ABEC-7, are precisely dimensioned to provide superior alignment safeguards in all modern high-performance skateboard wheels. Features include steel balls, nylon retainers, black outer casing, removable rubber-coated steel seals with printed graphic, and a proprietary lubricant combining both oil and grease.
The inner race is stepped underneath the seal to resist contamination, and it's stepped between the bearing and the flange to save weight. (A set of Tektons weighs the same as a set of conventional bearings with simple floating spacers.) On the side opposite the flange, the inner race extends 0.5mm to form a thin integrated washer.
Like all Seismic wheels, trucks, and decks, Tekton bearings are available from finer skate stores and online at www.seismicskate.com. No bearing spacers, axle washers, or World Record budgets required.
For further information, contact info@seismicskate.com. Stay tuned this year for more startling innovations in trucks, boards and wheels from Seismic!
[May 8, 2011 by Bart Brunninkhuis and Jani Söderhäll]
Very exciting results! On the third day of racing Gustavs Gailitis takes top honors in hybrid slalom,
and rookie Markus Roch (who was the fastest qualifier) takes second place. Both leaving World Champion Dominik behind to settle for 3rd.
This is Gustavs (team Fullbag and ConeRacing) first ever Main status race victory, showing that he belongs right here with the top pro's!
I'm sure Gints must be cheering from "the other side". Team Pavel takes home a whole bunch of medals,
but we're more used to that happening. Kathrin Sehl is right up there with the best of the guys and
late arriving team Spain showed their best with Dani Navarro taking 7:th yesterday and 6:th today.
Third day racing results:
Hybrid slalom (top 10 Open class)
1 Gustavs Gailitis LAT 14,330
2 Markus Roch GER 14,257
3 Dominik Kowalski GER 14,450
4 Ferdinand Lindner GER 14,556
5 Ernst-Jan de Boom NED 14,913
6 Dani Navarro ESP 15,699
7 Kathrin Sehl GER 16,055
8 Fabian Laute GER 16,144
9 Rob Gerlings NED 15,978
10 Bart Brunninkhuis NED 16,081
Complete results (PDFs)
Hybrid slalom Finals
Hybrid slalom Qualification
Hybrid slalom Juniors
Overall results (top 10 Open class)
1 Dominik Kowalski GER 260
2 Gustavs Gailitis LAT 260
3 Markus Roch GER 200
4 Ferdinand Lindner GER 145
5 Ernst-Jan de Boom NED 140
6 Bart Brunninkhuis NED 106
7 Rob Gerlings NED 97
8 Kathrin Sehl GER 94
9 Fabian Laute GER 79
10 Dani Navarro ESP 76
[May 7, 2011 by Bart Brunninkhuis]
Second day racing results:
Tight slalom (top 10 Open class)
1 Dominik Kowalski GER 12,454
2 Gustavs Gailitis LAT 12,853
3 Markus Roch GER 12,880
4 Ferdinand Lindner GER 13,206
5 Ernst-Jan de Boom NED 13,325
6 Bart Brunninkhuis NED 13,776
7 Dani Navarro ESP 14,126
8 Rob Gerlings NED 14,171
9 Fabian Laute GER 14,309
10 Kathrin Sehl GER 14,783
Complete results (PDFs)
Tight slalom Finals
Tight slalom Qualification
Tight slalom Juniors
[May 6, 2011 by Bart Brunninkhuis]
The first European Main status race for 2011 is currently under way. Flavio Badenes and his crew is putting on the 5:th annual Amsterdam Slalom Series, and after a pleasant first day with beautiful weather, here are the first results:
Giant Special (top 6 finalists Open class)
1 Dominik Kowalski GER 16,249
2 Gustavs Gailitis LAT 17,358
3 Markus Roch GER 17,367
4 Ernst-Jan de Boom NED 17,421
5 Ferdinand Lindner GER 17,760
6 Bart Brunninkhuis NED 18,076
Tomorrow there will be thousands of spectators circulating around the race area. Let's hope that gives us a few good crowd shots!
Complete results (PDFs)
Giant Special Finals
Giant Special Qualification
Giant Special Juniors
[Mar 27, 2011 by Cat Young]
Hybrid A Group
1 Joe McLaren
2 Chris Barker
3 Dominik Kowalski
4 David Pirnack
5 Richy Carrasco
6 Keith Hollien
7 Karl Floitgraf
8 Justin Collins
[Mar 27, 2011 by Daniel Gesmer]
OFFICIAL RESULTS (Details shown in attached PDF files)
Certified by Timing Manager D. Gesmer
SlalomCross (top 16)
1 Joe McLaren
2 Dominik Kowalski
3 David Pirnack
4 Jonathan Harms
5 Chris Barker
5 Chris Doan
7 Richy Carrasco
7 Steve Pederson
9 Lou Statman
9 Karl Floitgraf
9 Dustin Dixon
9 Kyle McLaren
13 Dylan Greenbaker
13 Chris Favero
13 Dan Hardick
13 John Stryker
Giant Slalom - A Group (all)
1 Joe McLaren
2 Dominik Kowalski
3 Chris Barker
4 Richy Carrasco
5 Steve Pederson
6 David Pirnack
7 Kyle McLaren
8 Jonathan Harms
9 Keith Hollien
10 Justin Collins
11 Lou Statman
12 Karl Floitgraf
13 Ryan Smith
14 Matt Franklin
15 Bobby Thomas
16 Dan Hardick
17 Chris Doan
18 Greg Stubbs
Giant Slalom - B Group (top 4)
1 John Stryker
2 Earl Cephas
3 Dustin Dixon
4 Mark Gosser
Giant Slalom - C Group (top 4)
1 Eddy Martinez
2 Peter Metzger
3 Zack Levitt
4 Pete Buck
Downhill Speed Trap (top 8)
1 Joe McLaren
2 Dominik Kowalski
3 Dustin Dixon
4 Chris Doan
5 Richy Carrasco
6 Jonathan Harms
7 Steve Pederson
8 Dylan Greenbaker
Complete results (PDFs)
Giant A group
Giant B group
Giant C group
Speed trap
[Feb 9, 2011 by Jani Söderhäll]
It is with great sadness we've learned of the death of Gints Gailitis.
According to early reports he died from a heart attack at his home in
the morning of February 9, 2011.
Gints was a solid ISSA supporter ever since his first reports into
Slalom! magazines back in the 1980's when Latvia was still part of the
Sovietunion, and almost noone knew where the country of Latvia was
situated on a world map. Readers, primarily in western Europe,
but also in the US, discovered that behind the iron wall there were
plenty of skateboarders, and in particular plenty of slalomers!
Gints with a foot in journalism with his work at Latvian TV and an
interest in photography, reported results, photos and stories to
Slalom! on a regular basis.
With the revival of slalom skateboarding in the years following the
millenium shift Gints once again returned to promoting slalom
in Latvia and elsewhere, and putting on races on local and international
level, always with the same ease and perfection. Even, when hosting
races and having done a full day of race organization, Gints would still
have enough energy to organize our evening and make sure food was served
and drinks were served while viewing todays TV broad cast with news
reporting from the days races.
Always eager to organize and take care of friends and visitors Gints
would host party games and typically the evening would end with some
beach fun, with Gints always being among the last to bed.
Gints helped spread the stoke of slalom in Latvia, Europe and elsewhere
also by making sure Latvian slalomers would be able to make it to events
all across the world, ultimately creating racing stars such as confirmed
racers Lienite Skaraine and Janis Kuzmins.
With his solid interest in racing, and despite never reaching the
highest level for himself, Gints participated in more races then most
of us and eventually managed to pass the bug onto his children Gustavs,
Guntars and his daughters Eliza and Anna, whom we hope will carry the
torch onwards.
With the sudden loss of Gints, slalom skateboarding has lost one of it's
cornerstones and on behalf of the ISSA and it's board of directors and
its co-workers I would like to present mine and our condoleances to
Gints' wife, children and other members of the Gailitis family.
R.I.P.
[Mar 27, 2011 by Pierre Samray]
Outlaw GS at the Garoupe Hill, Antibes, France
1 SAMRAY Pierre
2 DUPONT Christopher
3 COQUIN Guillaume
4 DECLEMENTI Josselin
5 BERNARD Nicolas
6 VANPETEGEN Erwan
7 CARERE Julien
8 GANZER Julien
[Mar 26, 2011 by Cat Young]
SlalomCross
1. Joe McLaren
2. Dominik Kowalski
3. David Pirnack
4. Jonathan Harms
Giant Slalom
1. Joe McLaren
2. Dominik Kowalski
3. Chris Barker
4. Richy Carrasco
5. Steve Pederson
Downhill
1. Joe McLaren
2. Dominik Kowalski
3. Dustin Dixon
4. Chris Doan
5. Richy Carrasco
6. Jonathan Harms
7. Steve Pederson
Chris Barker and David Pirnack set the Sizzler TS course. Photo: Steve Pederson
[Mar 25, 2011 by Jonathan Harms]
The courses have been set for the Seismic Cold Fusion Sizzler race in Hockley,
Texas (USA), near Houston, which gets underway on Saturday, March 26 with a dual
slalomcross and then a single-lane giant slalom race on a magnificent hill.
The pavement on the Hockley Park soapbox derby track is super-smooth and grippy,
and some courses will be almost 400 meters long. Speeds are expected to reach 30
mph (48 km/h), unless the almost constant tailwinds push the racers through the
course even faster.
This year's Sizzler is a Main status race, which means a lot of world ranking points
are up for grabs. 2010 season points leader, Colorado's Joe McLaren, won all three
events at last year's Sizzler and has returned to defend his title. He will be
challenged by other top racers including 2009 season champion Dominik Kowalski,
perennial threat Richy Carrasco, up-and-coming Canadian speed- stylist Louis Ricard,
2009 Amateur HS and TS World Champion Justin Collins and many others.
Practice is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. Central time, and racing at 10:30 a.m.
Check back tomorrow for race results from the slalomcross and GS.
[Feb 20, 2011 by Jani Söderhäll]
The ISSA Board of Directors have unanimously voted to award the
2011 ISSA World Championships to Ottawa, Canada. The event will
be held August 19-20-21 and has been awarded Major status, the
only one of the highest status in North America this year. Stay
tuned for more information as the organizers prepares their
announcement.
The European Major this year has been awarded to the European
Championships, Grenoble, France. The Euros 2011, also known as
Désaxé World Ride #5, will be held July 1-2-3.
Racers attending both Major events will be credited with Major
points for one, and Main points for the other, according to the
rules of the ISSA World Ranking (www.slalomranking.com).
The first Main event of this year will be the Texas Sizzler,
March 26-27, Houston, TX.
Looks like we're in for a good race season!
[Feb 20, 2011 by Jonathan Harms]
Over the past couple of years, people have repeatedly asked the ISSA to address several major areas of concern, including:
• Provide greater publicity and support for slalom skateboard racing worldwide.
• Report race results quickly.
• Make regular updates to the world ranking.
• Schedule the race season (especially big races) with few, if any, conflicts of dates or locations.
• Make sure high-status races actually deliver what they promise.
• Make slalomskateboarder.com less forum-based and more inviting and informative to potential riders, racers and sponsors.
Here is some of what we've done so far to address those problems and to encourage interest in slalom racing around the world:
• Established two new teams of status marshals: Petr Janousek, Ricardo Damborenea and Peter Pletanek in Europe, and Jonathan Harms, Lynn Kramer and Steve Pederson in North America. In Brazil, the Brazilian Skateboarding Association is working in close contact with us. Bruno "Brown" Leonardo will be the Brazilian status marshal. We also hope to establish one or more status marshals for Australia as well. Both Brazil and Australia have many dedicated racers, and they deserve to have their races and results recognized by the ISSA.
For the last month or so, these status marshals have all been very busy. They have been contacting potential race organizers, sending them the ISSA status application form and encouraging them to apply for ISSA status for their races. Beyond that, they will be maintaining regular contact with these organizers to help them plan and promote their races, as well as planning the season as a whole so races don’t conflict with each other.
In Europe the status marshals have also recruited national coordinators to manage the events on a local level. Some countries have up to 10 events in a year, and they need local management and authority to assign event status among those events.
The point of the status marshals' efforts is to set up the framework for a successful and exciting season of races in as many locations as possible.
• Contacted numerous slalom-related manufacturers and vendors and made arrangements for them to purchase banner ads on slalomskateboarder.com. Several manufacturers have already agreed, with others likely to join in.
The money from the ads will help fund other ISSA activities, which include:
- Working with Stefan “Lillis” Akesson to redesign slalomskateboarder.com
- Hiring a PHP programmer to update the forums to the latest version of phpBB software, which will allow us to introduce new features and make the forums easier to use.
- Updating the ranking site and the software needed to run the ranking which includes various administrative tools (calendar tool, status tool, news tool, etc.).
Although no changes are visible yet, visitors to the site will begin to notice them as they are gradually implemented.
The money from these banner ads will also help us to substantially reduce, and hopefully eliminate, any individual membership fees. (More details about that will be made available soon.)
• Finalized the 2010 world rankings, and began preparing to streamline and improve the world ranking process. The 2010 world ranking has been finalized. For 2011, as in past years, racers will still be ranked as Pro or Amateur in the world ranking, but it will be up to race organizers to choose whether to run their races as Pro/Am or Open (no separate Pro and Am divisions). For the major events, i.e. European and World Championships, we recommend running separate Pro and Am divisions, unless attendance does not allow for it. The ranking system can handle either method, so racers can be assured their rankings will be reliable and accurate.
We realize these actions are only a start, and there is still much to be done. But we hope people will see that all of these actions are part of a larger plan, which is to promote the growth of slalom racing worldwide.
We will announce further progress as we continue to work toward our goals. We encourage anyone and everyone to contact us or post in the forums – and of course, to get out there and skate!
[Jan 8, 2011 by Jonathan Harms]
The 2011 BOD held a conference call on Saturday, January 8, 2011, to discuss and decide several major goals for the year.
Here’s what we’ve done so far:
Elected officers
President: Jani Soderhall (FRA)
Vice President: Petr Janousek (CZE)
Secretary: Flavio Badenes
Treasurer: Jonathan Harms (USA)
Finalized the 2010 world ranking
The 2010 world rankings have been completed and published
on slalomranking.com. The 2010 BOD worked hard to set up
a new system of race statuses and ranking points but was
unable to publish a full world ranking before the end of
the year. So a team of volunteers worked diligently during
the last few weeks of 2010 to gather and submit all known
race results to Hans “Corky” Koraeus so they could be
entered into the same ranking system that has been used in
the past.
We know that some might consider this a less than ideal
solution, as there was no perfect way to match the 2010
BOD’s statuses with those of the previously existing system.
But we feel confident that the rankings on slalomranking.com
give a fair and accurate account of the results of races
(and racers) for 2010, and we thank all of those who
volunteered their time and energy to help complete the ranking.
We also thank the 2010 BOD for their hard work, their
dedication and their willingness to try something new.
We believe the events of 2010 will serve as a valuable
guide for what we plan to do in 2011. One of the 2011 BOD’s
highest priorities will be to ensure that race results are
submitted quickly and the ranking is updated and published
regularly.
Acknowledged that there's more to do
We realize the above actions are just a start, and there
is much more to do. We also discussed further actions to
be taken, and scheduled our next meeting to decide on them.
We will post regular announcements and updates on the front
page and/or the forums as we act on and implement these
items.
_________________
The 2011 ISSA Board of Directors
Jani Soderhall, ISSA President
Petr Janousek, ISSA Vice President
Jonathan Harms, ISSA Treasurer
Flavio Badenes, ISSA, Secretary
Ron "Fatboy" Barbagallo, ISSA Board member
Peter Klang, ISSA Board member
[December 11, 2010 By Gary Fluitt]
The ISSA board now consists of the following board members:
Jani Söderhäll (FRA)
Jonathan Harms (USA)
Petr Janousek (CZE)
Flavio Badenes (NL)
Ron Barbagallo (USA)
Peter Klang (SWE) [Elected Dec 2009]
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Joe McLaren makes a clean sweep at the Texas Sizzler, winning all five disciplines. Photo: Maria Carrasco.
Dustin Dixon at the Texas Sizzler. Photo: Aria Pramesi.
Jonathan Harms coming down the BIIIG ramp. Photo: Steve Pederson
Dominik Kowalski, Germany, and Joe McLaren, USA.
Hybrid Slalom - Group B (top 4)
1 John Stryker
2 Greg Stubbs
3 Steve Lavin
4 Marcos Soulsby-Monroy
Tight Slalom - Group B (top 4)
1 John Stryker
2 Neil Orta
3 Steve Lavin
4 Marcos Soulsby-Monroy
Hybrid Slalom - Group C (top 4)
1 Daniel Jones
2 Humberto Salcedo
3 Peter Metzger
4 Zack Levitt
Tight Slalom - Group C (top 4)
1 Peter Metzger
2 Daniel Jones
3 Peter Waters
4 Humberto Salcedo
Complete results (PDFs)