Semis take shape on busy Des Moines skate day
The field of finalists for Sunday’s 2021 Dew Tour women’s park skateboarding event – a final qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) Olympic Games – was set today in Des Moines, Iowa while the semifinal skaters were also established for the men’s and women’s street and men’s park semifinals (scheduled for Saturday).
Skateboarding
With the first day of action at the 2021 summer Dew Tour event (which doubles as a global Olympic skateboarding qualifier) cut short due to heavy weather over Iowa, day two (on Friday 21 May) was a busy affair with both men’s and women’s park and street heats at the brand-new Lauridsen Skatepark.
Wrapping up the open qualifying round of the women’s park discipline from yesterday (Thursday 20 May), a clutch of four young Americans (Ruby Faith Lilley, Minna Stess, Jordyn Barratt and Grace Marhoeffer) all finished in the top five.
But only one of them (Barratt) made the cut in the semifinals later in the day. Pre-seeded stars OKAMATO Misugu, Sky Brown and Bryce Wettstein led the way in the women’s park semis, racing to the top of the pack of the eight skaters who all booked places in the final round of competition scheduled for Sunday evening (23 May).
Wettstein, Barratt prosper for Team USA
Five out of the eight women’s park finalists are from Japan – host nation of the upcoming Summer Games – while Wettstein and Barratt carried the banner for Team USA.
“I’m just trying to have fun and trying to get better,” said 12 year-old prodigy Brown, representing Great Britain, after her high-flying semifinal heats. “I’m so inspired and I can’t wait for the finals.”
“I was holding on for dear life out there,” added American Barratt, who finished just above the cut-line in eighth place to reach the finals. “It’s the best feeling in the world to be back and compete. To see everyone again is great and it feels like normal.”
The men’s park open qualifiers were held right after the women’s park semis, with outstanding American Zion Wright, Swede Oskar Rozenberg and Gavin Rune Bottger (USA) comprising the top-three and booking their places, along with 18 others, in tomorrow’s (Saturday 22 May) semifinal round, where world number-one and Hawaii-born sensation Heimana Reynolds awaits.
The Dew Tour stop in Iowa is the final place to earn ranking points toward qualification for the debut of park skateboarding at Tokyo 2020 from 4-5 August 2021. As for the street category, athletes will have one more chance to bolster their world ranking – which determines who will take part in the inaugural Olympic Skateboarding Competition – in Rome, Italy (30 May - 6 June).
Street debut in Des Moines
Friday saw the first glimpses of street skateboarding at the event (the inaugural Olympic skateboarding competition in Tokyo will consist of both park and street disciplines).
Brazilian flair in men’s street
There was a heavy Brazilian flavour as Carlos Ribeiro took first and Felipe Gustavo, Ivan Monteiro and Eduardo Neves all finished among the top eight finishers in the open qualifying heats to move on to the men’s semifinal street round (scheduled for Saturday 22 May).
Americans Louie Lopez, Chris Joslin, Alec Majerus and Alexander Midler will join Canadians TJ Rogers, Ryan Decenzo, Matt Berger and Micky Papa in the semifinal round.
There, they’ll meet the likes of global superstar Nyjah Huston, handrail hero Jamie Foy and a core of dynamic American skaters including 2021 national champion Dashawn Jordan and Jake Ilardi.
“There was a little pressure, but I was feeling good,” said Brazilian Gustavo. “I’m stoked that I made it for tomorrow. There’s a lot of pressure with so many Brazilians moving on, but tomorrow is a new day.
Day two action concluded with the women’s street open qualifiers late in the evening under floodlights. Jazmin Alvarez of Colombia, NISHIYA Momiji (Japan) and American Poe Pinson led the field of semifinal-round qualifiers from the open division, and they’ll go up against the pre-seeded stars like Leticia Bufoni and Rayssa Leal (Brazil) and recently crowned USA national champion Mariah Duran, out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, when the semifinal round gets underway tomorrow (Saturday 22 May).
The Dew Tour event runs through Sunday (23 May), when the four finals in men’s and women’s street and park skating will take place.
The final qualifiers for the skateboarding competition in Tokyo will be based on official World Skate rankings and will consist of 20 athletes per discipline with a maximum of three skaters per country/per discipline. All five participating continents must be represented.
Complete semifinal line-up:
Men’s Street Semifinals (Saturday 22 May)
Pre-Seeded:
Vincent Milou (FRA)
Angelo Caro Narvaez (PER)
Jamie Foy (USA)
Dashawn Jordan (USA)
Maurio McCoy (USA)
Aurelien Giraud (FRA)
Jake Ilardi (USA)
Kelvin Hoefler (BRA)
SHIRAI Sora (JPN)
Gustavo Ribeiro (PRT)
HORIGOME Yuto (JPN)
Nyjah Huston (USA)
Open Qualified:
Carlos Ribeiro (Brazil)
Felipe Gustavo (Brazil)
TJ Rogers (Canada)
Ivan Monteiro (Brazil)
Ryan Decenzo (Canada)
Eduardo Neves (Brazil)
Tommy Flynn (Australia)
Louie Lopez (USA)
Chris Joslin (USA)
Shane O’Neill (Australia)
Alec Majerus (USA)
Alexander Risvad (Denmark)
Matt Berger (Canada)
Micky Papa (Canada)
Joao Lucas Alves (Brazil)
Jorge Simoes (Portugal)
Manny Santiago (Puerto Rico)
Alexander Midler (USA)
Axel Cruysberghs (Belgium)
Matias Dell Olio (Argentina)
Maxim Habanec (Czech Republic)
Women’s Street Semifinals (Saturday 22 May)
Pre-Seeded:
Roos Zwetsloot (NLD)
ODA Yumeka (JPN)
Virginia Fortes Aguas (BRA)
Alexis Sablone (USA)
Gabriela Pereira Mazetto (BRA)
Mariah Duran (USA)
Leticia Bufoni (BRA)
NISHIMURA Aori (JPN)
Rayssa Leal (BRA)
Pamela Rosa (BRA)
Open Qualified:
Jazmin Alvarez
NISHIYA Momiji (Japan)
Poe Pinson (USA)
FUJISAWA Nanaka (Japan)
Samarria Brevard (USA)
Isabelly Avila da Silva (Brazil)
Julia Brueckler (Austria)
Ana Maria Rendon (Colombia)
Lore Bruggeman (Belgium)
NISHIMURA Kotone (Japan)
Itzel Granadores Flores (Mexico)
Charlotte Hym (France)
Aldana Lubila Bertran (Argentina)
Keet Oldenbeuving (Netherlands)
Paige Heyn (USA)
Andrea Benitez (Spain)
Margielyn Didal (Philippines)
NAKAYAMA Funa (Japan)
Asia Lanzi (Italy)
Sarah De Laet (Belgium)
AKAMA Rizu (Japan)
Meagan Guy (USA)
Fay Ebert (Canada)
Men’s Park Semifinals (Saturday 22 May)
Pre-Seeded:
Ivan Federico (ITA)
Tate Carew (USA)
Ben Hatchell (USA)
Alex Sorgente (USA)
Jagger Eaton (USA)
Thomas Schaar (USA)
Pedro Quintas (BRA)
Keegan Palmer (AUS)
Pedro Barros (BRA)
Cory Juneau (USA)
Luiz Francisco (BRA)
Heimana Reynolds (USA)
Open Qualified:
Zion Wright (USA)
Oskar Rozenberg (Sweden)
Gavin Rune Bottger (USA)
Andy Anderson (Canada)
Karl Berglind (Sweden)
Trey Wood (USA)
Tristan Rennie (USA)
Liam Cloud Pace (USA)
Vincent Matheron (France)
Hampus Winberg (Sweden)
Tyler Edtmayer (Germany)
Josh Dirksen (USA)
Jericho Francisco (Philippines)
Christopher Fleming (USA)
Pedro Acosta Carvalho (Brazil)
Jack Fardell (Australia)
Danny Leon (Spain)
Clay Kreiner (USA)
Alessandro Mazzara (Italy)
Steven Piniero (Puerto Rico)
Women’s Park line-up for Sunday’s finals (23 May):
OKAMOTO Misugo (Japan)
Sky Brown (Great Britain)
Bryce Wettstein (USA)
YOSOZUMI Sakura (Japan)
TEZUKA Mami (Japan)
KIRAKI Kokona (Japan)
NAKAMURA Kisa (Japan)
Jordyn Barrat (USA)