World Cup Skateboarding 2003: X Games IX

The course for the park contest was to say the least compact. There was no margin for error (or pushing for that matter) so to really succeed out there you had to ride it like a park. Pyramids and quarters only about 4 feet apart and a bowled off corner with pool coping had the feel of a cement park made of wood. This lead to a lot of falls and only a hand full of bailless runs. Highlights from the guys who didn't make it into the top spots included: Nilton Neves with the hugest 360 flip fakie in practice on the quarterpipe, Daniel Viera doing nollie backside 360 kickflips on the bank,

Caswell's kickflip boardslides, Lutzka with his perfect frontside 360 kickflips and McCrank's crooked grinds down the marble ledge. Where's Koston you ask? Well he was make or break and unfortunately for him this was the latter. He got taken out each run on his second trick, a nollie heel over the hip. Koston bowed out like his and my beloved Lakers against the Spurs this year ('04 baby!). He didn't go unnoticed during practice because I saw a 360 flip noseblunt slide off the bank to flat bar! Caine Gayle had a good showing by packing his runs with 360 flips up the step up and 50/50's down the kinked rail. Kyle Berard had two strong runs but bailed right near the end. Big kickflips over the pyramid, backside crails on the pool coping and a 360 flip to flamingo backflip slam put Kyle in 8th. Colt Cannon smiled the whole time and had the hardest trick down the marble ledge- his patented long frontside nosegrind to land him in 7th. Austen Seaholm's got tricks, period. He can do almost anything and he pretty much did. He was well on his way to one of the top spots with noseslide to fakie nosegrinds on the marble and tailslide 270's out on the pool coping ledge but was taken down on a backfoot flip fakie. 6th place is still quite good with a bail. Monster kickflips and a huge 360 flip on the quarter a-la his Brazilian counterpart Nilton gave Carlos De Andrade a much deserved 5th. This course was built for someone like Chris Senn. He was around the course about 9 times before his run was over. He started by ollieing the pyramid to 50/50 down the hubba (the only person to even try it). Senn did frontside 5-0's around the whole pool ledge into the bowl, backside grab disasters on the vert and boardslides up the kinked rail. Only a fall on a transfer kept Senndog from medaling and in 4th. Bartie was one of the first guys to skate and had a perfect first run. Feebs up the kinked rail, a frontside 270 to nosepick on the quarter and big Bartie finished off his run with a heelflip frontside boardslide. Gold Coast gets Bronze. Good job mate! Rodil made deuces wild this week by wrapping up his 3rd second place at the X-Games. He mixed it up with switch lips on the big rail, 360 flips over the pyramid and switch crooks on the flat bar. Rodil added another Silver medal to his collection (and some cash too!). Growing up skating the Vans park must have helped Ryan Sheckler somewhere along the way. At 13 years old, Ryan posted his 3rd win of the year with 2 pretty much perfect runs. He has a great mix of style (backside smiths), tech (kickflip front boards) and big stuff (huge kickflip shifty over the pyramid). Ryan was easily the crowd favorite and took home a much deserved Gold Medal, the first of many I imagine. The eclectic mixture of styles on this course made for a fun event.

Park Final Results

Place	Name	Hometown			Sponsors	Purse
1	Ryan Sheckler	San Clemente	CA	USA	Almost Skateboards, Etnies, Volcom, Oakley, Tensor, Darkstar Wheels, Nixon, RDS, Sobe, Ninja and Boost, Protec, Shorty's,	$25,000
2	Rodil Junior	Curitiba		BRA	Dragon Optical, Qix, Billabong, PEP	$14,000
3	Chad Bartie	Gold Coast		AUS	Billabong, Defiant Trucks, Bones Wheels, Jessup Griptape	$10,000
4	Chris Senn	Grass Valley	CA	USA	Adrenalin, Emerica, Bones Wheels, Destructo Trucks	$8,000
5	Carlos de Andrade	Curitiba		BRA	World Industries, Etnies, Ezekiel, Oakley, Crail Trucks	$5,000
6	Austen Seaholm	Anaheim	CA	USA	Oakley, Z-cult, Dragonetti Wheels, Ninja, Balls Deep Boxers, Identity boardshop, M.I.C., Shortys, Tensor Trucks	$3,500
7	Colt Cannon	Los Atlas Hill	CA	USA	Circa, Oakley, Element, Swiss Bearings, Ricta Wheels, Ogio, Krux	$3,000
8	Kyle Berard	Virginia Beach	VA	USA	Hurley, Ninja Bearings, Independent Trucks, Nixon Watches, Ricta Wheels, Cardinal Skateshop	$2,500
9	Caine Gayle	Jacksonville	FL	USA	Arnette, Venture Trucks, Nixon, RDS, Chikara Wheels, Diamond Bolts	$1,500
10	Rick McCrank	Vancouver	BC	CAN	Girl, Es, Momentum, Matix, Nixon, Anti Social	$1,000
11	Greg Lutzka	Milwaukee	WI	USA	Globe, Almost Skateboards, Indy, VZ, FKD Bearings, Volcom, Drop Backpacks	$500
12	Caswell Berry	San Jose	CA	USA	Enjoi Skateboards, Krux Trucks, Ricta Wheels, Bones Bearings, Volcom, Circa	$500
13	Dayne Brummet	San Diego	CA	USA	Redsand, Bones Wheels and Bearings, Hurricane, Randoms, Skatewave, Premium Wood	$500
14	Pat Channita	Garden Grove	CA	USA	Powell, Guerilla Union, Mountain Dew, Independent, Bones Bearings, Dragon, Ally Co.	$500
15	Henrique Candido "Vitoria"	Belo Horizonte		BRA	Standup Clothing, Prefeitura de Belo Horizonte, Connexion Wheels, Bad Boy	$500
16	Daniel Vieira	Curitiba		BRA	Oakley, Destructo, Bones Bearings, Connexion, Anti Action	$500
17	Jeff Williams	Sydney		AUS	ShivaTech Skateboards, Etnies, Dragon, Gring King, Juice, Boost Mobile, Type S, Randoms	$500
18	Nilton Neves	Sao Paulo		BRA	Organika, Hurley, I-Path, Satori Wheels, Independent, Drop Dead	$500
19	Rodney Jones	Baltimore	MD	USA	Powell, Billabong, Dragon, Bones Wheels and bearings, Venture Trucks, Ally Co.	$500
20	Eric Koston	Los Angeles	CA	USA	Girl, Es, Four Star, T-Mobile, Royal, Apple/Mac computers	$500