Young talents shine at the World Rookie Skateboard Finals at Mystic Skatepark

The event kicked off on Friday with an exciting Bowl Contest, showcasing the skaters’ versatility and style on the transition terrain.

1. Adrian Moreno Salas

2. Kingsten Kalawaia

3. Gabriele Fabi

1. Teresa Havlikova

2. Umay Demir

3. Lela Helfenstein

The adrenaline continued to build on Saturday with the highly anticipated street finals, where riders delivered jaw-dropping tricks and technical prowess.

The following days set a new benchmark, with Grom category champions claiming the highest overall scores of the entire contest, proving that the future of skateboarding is in great hands. Italy took home the most medals this year, showcasing the strength of their young riders.

• Grom Girls Champion: Laura Žáčková (CZE), from the Czech Republic, with the highest score among all female participants.

The title stayed at home, as the 14 years old Prague local girl Laura Zackova had the overall score amongst all the girls competing, an amazing 78.67 that she got on her first run, showing the public and her competitors that she was there for the first spot in the podium. She started getting speed and with an ollie over the pyramid, followed by a perfect frontside lip slide down the square biggest rail of the delta. Then she went to the biggest part of the park to execute an incredible frontside 50-50 down the big hubba, which put her right on the first part of the park to do a backside 50-50 on the curb, without losing speed and going to the other side to do a stylish backside lip slide, a trick that most of the girls don’t go for it. If it was not enough, she went for a frontside boardslide down the rail, then a boardslide on the steepest rail of the park and ended her flawless run with a mandatory heelflip on the flat ground.

Laura’s outstanding performance earned her several prestigious awards: the Red Bull Special Award for Best Girl Overall, an invitation to the next edition of the Mystic Sk8 Cup, and a Golden Ticket granting access to all the WRT Skateboard stops she wishes to attend in the upcoming season.

Second place: Unna Peltotalo (FIN) - Third place: Noor Crevels (NED)

• Grom Boys Champion: Beau Brunclair (BEL), who achieved the highest overall score among all male skaters. If you love competition skateboarding, just remember this name: Beau Brunclair. The 15-year-old Belgium talent was the MVS (Most Valuable Skater) of the weekend. His runs this contest were at Mystic Skate Cup level and he had the overall score among all the boys, earning him not only the top spot in the Groom Podium but also the Golden Red Bull Special Award for Best Boy Overall, participation in the Mystic Sk8 Cup, and a Golden Ticket to compete at all the WRT Skateboard stops of his choice next year. If he started with an 88.33 on the first one, on his last one, the third, he ended with a 9 Club, a 93.33. Why? Well, he started with a backside kickflip tailslide on the curb, a nollie big spin back lip top fakie, a huge Tre Flip over the delta, backside 270 lip slide down the big square rail of the delta, big spin front blunt on the square rail of the delta, the other way around, backside lip slide on the Jersey Barrier and the Cherrie over the top the cake, a backside nose blunt on the rail on the other side. That’s what the judges call an almost perfect run and what everybody wants to see.

Beau’s achievements did not go unnoticed, securing him the Red Bull Special Award for Best Boy Overall, participation in the Mystic Sk8 Cup, and a Golden Ticket to compete at all the WRT Skateboard stops of his choice next year.

• Rookie Women Champion: Lina Sevcnikar (SLO), dominating her category with impressive style and technique. The 17-year-old blonde girl came from Maribor, Slovenia, to take the highest spot on the podium of the Rookie Women Category. Although she never completed any of the three one-minute runs she had for the final, she sealed the deal on her first run. Her talent, tricks and style were enough to beat the competition. On her best run, she started with a clean board slide on the first rail of the Mystic Skate Park, followed by a 270 in the hip. Then she got from speed from the quarter to execute a perfect front board slide on the square rail of the delta, right in the centre of the park. She returned to the park's first section and tried to do a 50-50 up on the curb. She failed, but she got back on the run with a backside noseslide down the hubba. She ended a run with a nollie into the bank, a relaxed but well-executed trick that she used to say that she was quite happy with her 46.33 run.

Lina’s victory earned her a spot at the next edition of the Mystic Sk8 Cup, solidifying her status as one of the most promising female skaters in the scene.

• World Rookie Skateboard Champion: Simon Gerber (SUI), takes home the top spot and the 2024 World Rookie Champion title. He took not only the WRT Finals 2024 Rookie Men Cup but also invitations to both the Mystic Sk8 Cup and the prestigious Simple Session. Simon was the best of the 18 men who competed in this category, and he did it with a 77.33 on his second of three one-minute runs. He started on his run with a Frontside Feeble on the rail, on the first part of the park, a backside disaster on the quarter, a backside 270 lip slide on the square rail, Kick Flip Front board on the delta square rail, a huge backside 360 Indy flying over the delta, frontside blunt on the rail, kickflip over the Fire Hydrant and he did not pinch the hurricane on the steepest rail, or it would be a better score, and ended with a blunt kickflip out on the quarter. This is what you have to do if you want to win.

Simon’s prize includes invitations to the Mystic Sk8 Cup and the prestigious Simple Session, where he will compete against top pros and further develop his skills.

Sunday morning kicked off with an inspiring adaptive skateboarding session at Mystic Skatepark, where athletes of all abilities showcased their creativity and determination, leaving the audience in awe.

In the afternoon, the action moved to the legendary Stalin Plaza, one of Prague’s most iconic skateboarding spots, for a thrilling street session of photos and videos with filmmaker Andreas "Mone" Monsberger. The relaxed session allowed the riders to show off their skills, connect with their peers, and capture unforgettable moments—celebrating the true essence of skateboarding.

The Prague finals once again proved why the World Rookie Tour is the ultimate launchpad for young talents aiming to go pro. With new promising skaters emerging from every corner of the globe, the future of the World Rookie Tour looks brighter than ever.

The World Rookie Tour team is already looking forward to the next season, where we will continue to support and showcase the next generation of world-class skateboarders!

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ABOUT THE WORLD ROOKIE TOUR

The World Rookie Tour is organized by the Black Yeti ssrl in collaboration with the World Snowboard Federation, National Snowboard, Ski and Skateboard Associations, and selected action sports agencies. It was born in 2005 as a series of youth snowboard events and it consists now of a selection of high-quality International events for snowboard, Freeski, Skateboard and Surf, the so-called "Rookie Fests", reserved for riders under 18's only, in Europe, North and South America, Oceania and Asia. The World Rookie Tour consists not only of competitions: it also features loads of other activities to help rookies to grow in the field of professional action sports, such as photo & video shootings, avalanche, and rescue clinics, meetings with photographers, and international team managers, parties and English talks. Since year zero, it awards tickets to world-class events such as X Games Norway, Audi Nines, The Arctic Challenge, The Air & Style, The World Snowboarding Championships, Red Bull Roller Coaster, Simple Session, Mystic Sk8 Cup, invitations to professional photo & video shootings, and shooting trip all around the world. Every year the tour crowns the World Rookie Champions at the end of the season, during the World Rookie Finals, a unique event format where the best youngsters from almost 30 countries compete and have fun. More information at www.worldrookietour.com

ABOUT BLACK YETI ssd

The Black Yeti is a sport company dedicated to the realization of snowboard, freeski and skateboard projects for boys and girls up to 18 years of age, in Italy and abroad. One of the most successful project is the World Rookie Tour, the biggest and the most famous tour in the action sports world that attracts 3.000 young athletes from 30 nations to the events called “Rookie Fest”, organized all over the world: Europe, North and South America, Oceania and Asia. The Rookie Fests program includes not only the competition but also many side activities such as avalanche and rescue clinics, workshops and English talks.

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