Autumn has come, and with it, shorter days, grey skies and heavy rain. Autumn is here, days have flown, spent running, organizing, building, working many a late night shift. Autumn now, with its melancholia, beautiful trees, and sunny memories of Summer. The kind of memories that keep you warm at night, such as Tallinn’s Spot of Blade contest, for instance!
Photography: Rene Lutterus
Words: Freddy White
Held by the tiny but always motivated Estonian crew, the event took place back in August, in between two dives in the Baltic sea and just a few days after the infamous Ghetto Games Festival. Given that Tallinn is just a few hours away from Latvia, and that a bunch of international Gypsies had all stayed in Riga, the decision was quickly made and the ride up and across the border, just as quickly driven.
Now, it wouldn’t make much sense writing about the event if I didn’t write about the place that gave it its name. Spot of Tallinn is the type of infrastructure bladers, and all extreme sports athletes for that matter, have been dreaming of for a long time. The Woodward-like structure is home to both an outdoor & indoor pump track, a massive trampoline area, the best foam pit setup you’ve ever seen, a well managed bar & restaurant… And both a real street style course and a gigantic wooden bowl!
Now that the stage is set, let’s talk about the skating itself, shall we? After the juniors and Ams tried themselves on the more reasonably sized street course, and everyone flew onto foam for the best trick contest, it was time for the main event. Big, technical and sharp, the bowl required both power and precision to master the most elementary lines. Quite logically, the finals saw a combination of seasoned pros and experienced locals battle for first place in a warm and sweaty atmosphere!
The Gypsy King himself, Joey Egan eventually landed in first place, mixing both big spins and hammer tricks in a handful of solid runs, while Rollerblade’s Jeremy Suarez and Tallinn local Evert Lubja respectively took 2nd and 3rd. The later especially demonstrated his great knowledge of the bowl, flowing tricks on every inch of grindable surface, while Belgium’s finest flew all over the place with more amplitude than anyone. No point in describing all the action though: In case the pictures weren’t enough, here’s a little video recap to round it off!
Summer is long gone now, and those memories get blurrier during the afterparty hosted at a welcoming local bar. The picture slowly fades as we hammered shots, played pool and games, and drank more than a bartender would consider normal. As grey clouds hover outside my window, it’s almost time to welcome winter in again. Fortunately, there are these sunny memories to keep me warm in the cold weather. Yet another reason to be thankful for rollerblading, the cycle of life, and the beautiful season of Autumn.
Results:
Pro Bowl Competition: 1st. Joey Egan 2nd. Jeremy Suarez 3rd. Evert Lubja
Estonian Championships: 1st. Evert Lubja 2nd. Mats-Kaarel Ruus 3rd. Rene Lutterus
Big Air Foam Competition: 1st. Jeremy Suarez 2nd. Mathieu Heinemann 3rd. Pekka Hannikainen
AM/Junior Competition: 1st. Aleksandr Dockin 2nd. Pekka Hannikainen 3rd / Estonian Junior Champion. Ilja Shljandin
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