CZECH
EUROSKATE '88
Story and Photos by Marco Contati
IRON CURTAIN CALL
Maybe it's because I come from
Genova, Italy, which has some of the best
weather in the world, but I felt sick as soon
as I entered Prague. It was a city of dead,
toned down colors, big dirty, dusty build-
ings and fog. The hotel was cold and my
room had huge cracks all over the walls.
Despite all these detriments, there is also
something oddly refreshing about Czech-
oslovakia. Take away fashionable clothes,
stickers, neon signs, colorful ads, brand
names printed on everything and what do
Mark Fowlie, Denmark.
ates
SEPRAH
you get? You get no people staring at you,
no poseurs, just pure, simple, meaningful
things. I saw all of this in the streets of
Prague, in the words of the Czech people,
in the eyes of Czech girls.
NUMBERS ETC.
Mr. Karel Trsek, president of TJ Pkojf.
gave me some pertinent figures. The
budget for the whole event was two million
Czech crowns. Don't ask me how much
that is, it's hard to tell. On the black market
they give you four times the amount you
get at the border, so it comes out some-
ぬ
where between $56,00 and
$221,000 in US dollars. There
were six thousand spectators on
Saturday and nine thousand on
Sunday. There was live TV cov-
erage in all of Czechoslovakia
and via satellite to the Soviet
Union. The contest was also
covered by English, German
and Italian television. There was
more. Free hotel, meals and
buses to the sports hall, com-
puterized results, electronic
scoreboard, locked changing
rooms with sweeties to hold the
key and lots of nice people.
Prague Sports Hall is a huge
building. The floor area was cov-
ered with painted wood which
made for a good grippy surface.
The metal half-pipe was very fast
and pretty noisy. It was of aver
age size with a channel on one.
side. In the streetstyle area there
was a wall with a ramp, a couple
of jump ramps, a couple of start-
ing ramps for slalom, a curved
slider bar and a low bench..
Crowd response was tremen-
dous both days. Every trick had
EXPORT
IMPORT
Gunther Mokulys, W. Germany.
the Czechs stoked and screaming. They
had never seen such a grand skate func-
tion before. Unlike American competi-
tions, however, attention wasn't only
focused on the highest airs or the most
famous people. Just imagine ten thou-
sand people cheering after every hot
trick-vert, streetstyle or freestyle-with
no concern for name or fame. Ludek
Vasa, the Czechoslovakian winner of the
high-jump competition, was a special
crowd favorite. He cleared 150 cen-
timeters to clinch the title, but couldn't
quite make his 153cm attempt.
The final results of the two day skate
blitz are listed below. I was really impres
sed with the courtesy the Czech people
showed us. They were all extremely
friendly. Thank you, Czechoslovakia, you
demonstrated that skating cannot be held
back by an iron curtain.
MINI-INTERVIEWS
It takes more than one man to give an
opinion that matters. It's better to check
many different minds and collect what
they reckon. Here are some thoughts from
various participants in Euroskate '88.
Christian Seewaldt
What's your opinion of this contest?
It was fun. I've never been to a contest
with such good atmosphere in the
freestyle finals. It was better than any
World Cup or anything else. Everyone
liked freestyle so much.
Martin Kopecky
Is there anything you would have liked to
change in this contest?
There are a lot of things we could
possibly organize better. For example, a
better system for slalom. Most importantly,
we need an ideal system for ramp and
freestyle. The skaters should judge.
9.05
How do people get skateboards in this
country?
There are some in shops, but they're
no good. Some companies would like to
make a better skateboard. I hope it will
be a better situation soon. Of course we
have a lot of friends abroad in Europe and
they are helping us. There are only two
Czechoslovakian companies and some
skaters make their own stuff.
Can you get imported skate equipment?
Right now, it's impossible to buy any-
thing imported. I hear some companies
are having discussions, but who knows
what the results will be.
Where do skaters get good equipment?
Friends and family who travel to
Western countries.
Francisco Jose Burgos
My name is Francisco Jose Burgos and
I'm from Spain. I don't really understand
why the contest went the way it did. I
would prefer a more relaxed atmosphere,
but I guess we'll have to wait till next year.
Tell us something about Euroskate '89
which you will be organizing in Madrid.
It's probably going to be indoor. We're
trying to make it as huge as this. It's real-
ly hard to arrange everything for a lot of
people, commercial things like TV. The
times are changing and you just can't run
a contest like the old days. We'll make
sure there's more practice time. Every-
thing will be set up four days before, so
the skaters will have time to warm up.
Gogo Spreitter
Any comments from the only female to
enter the contest?
I've just seen the points now and I'm
wondering how they gave them. It's real- )
ly hard to tell. There are some people in
front or behind who shouldn't be there.
It's quite strange. Still, it was a fun con-
test. Everyone skated well. Personally, I
skated well, so I'm happy.
STREETSTYLE
RAMP
1. Claus Grabke
2. Nicky Guerrero
2. Soren Aaby
3. Florian Bohm
4. Niel Danns
5. Sean Goff
Claus Grabke, W. Germany,
6. Hans Gothberg
RESULTS
1. Mark Fowlie
3. Rasmus Skousen
4. Nicky Guerrero
5. Hans Jacobsson
5. Michael Rall
FREESTYLE
1. Gunther Mokulys
2. Shane Rouse
3. Christian Sewaldt
4. Georgio Contati
5. Joachim Schulz
6. Hans Lindgren
7. Kark J. Richter
HIGH JUMP
1. Ludek Vasa
2. Michael Rall
3. Roman Hanzlicek
4. Janis Gailis
5. Axel Kleinhans
5. Per Holknekt
7. Hans Gothberg
8. Stanislaw Randev
SLALOM
1. Luca Giammarco
2. Jani Soderhall
3. Paolo Gaiti
4. Santiago Diaz
5. Josef Stefka
6. Francesco Ugolini
7. Federico Malventi
8. Andrea Ambroso
PARALLEL
SLALOM
1. Jani Soderhall
2. Paolo Gatti
3. Daniel Riedoli
4. Mathias Ernst.
M
NAD
7. Soren Aaby
8. Hans Jacobsson
7. Tomi Tiomenen
8. Sean Goff
8. Ruedi Matter