LINCOLN UEDA
HAT WAS THE FIRST THRASHER
ever saw?
Wou
We didn't have that much, in Brazil. It was
super hard to get any magazines. It was hard to
get magazines, videos, anything. But, I know
my first photo in an international magazine
was Thrasher.
An airwalk lien to tail?
That's the one. In like 1989.
When did your pro career come together
for you?
I never expected to be out here. I was work-
ing for my dad and just skating on the week-
ends. Then in like 1994, I had my last contest
outside of Brazil. Then I stopped skating for
awhile. My first pro contest was in 1996.
Bob-o was already out here, so he helped me
with that.
What did you do with your dad?
Mechanic. Fixing cars. We did all kinds of work
with cars. I did it for four or five years.
What made you start skating again?
Well, Bob, and Digo. The vert scene started
getting better Brazil. The park, the one that I
grew up in, closed and the other one was too
far away. But then Bob and everyone started.
skating again.
Is skating more fun now or when you
were 15?
I guess now. It was fun then, but now I get to
travel around and see so many different things.
It's more for fun nowadays.
Have you always been able to do high airs?
No. No. I never did them before I started
again. People always ask me that. I never really.
thought, "Oh, I need to go higher"; I just did it
that way.
Do you ever feel like you make it harder on
with your friends, or would you rather do the
contests and the demos?
I would rather do the contests and demos.
Really?
Yeah. I thought about it one day, that this
thing is really getting boring, just traveling
around. You sit on the plane, 13 hours, seven
hours. But now, when I look at it, there are
so many places that I can still go. Maybe
after that, I'll just want to skate with my
friends. It's always good. Every time you
travel you learn something. You have to
thinned out the sessions a little.
Nowadays it has-three or five guys skating
the same ramp. In San Barnardo, Sandro's
ramp, that's where all the vert skaters are.
They're stoked on us, though. Everytime they
come to the US they stay with me or Bob.
Do you care if vert dies after your generation of
vert skaters?
Yes, I do. For sure. That won't happen. If you
go to all the new parks, all the Vans parks, you
always see one or two kids skating vert. I want to
see more kids skating vert.
THEY PUT ME IN JAIL FOR THREE DAYS"
yourself at contests, because not only do you
I have to do all the tricks, but you have to do
them higher than everyone else?
For judges, it seems like that. They see me
in practice going high, doing kickflip, kick-
flip, 540°, and then in my run, if I slow down
at all, they'll be like, "Oh, Lincoln didn't.
skate as good as we saw earlier, so we'll give
him less points." I can't slow down at all in
my runs, or they think I'm not skating the
way I skate.
Do you ever feel separated from the other pros,
like the street skaters?
I never really thought about it. I don't think
it matters.
If you had a choice, would you rather just skate
think about that.
Who are your favorite street skaters?
I like McCrank skating, but that's more just in
contests. I never get to see him skate on the
streets. I like Rodrigo. He's good. I like Chad
Bartie's style a lot too.
Are there any more secret Brazilians we
should watch out for who will be coming over
here soon?
In vert, there's one guy who's good. He
does all the tricks-switch tricks-and he
goes high. We've got Marcello. If he had the
chance to come over here he would do
pretty well.
Are the Brazilian vert skaters bummed out
that you all moved over here? I bet that's
What's a basic trick you can't do?
Kickflip on flat. People will be like, "You can do
a kickflip Indy six feet high but you can't do one
on flat?"
Who's the most stylish skater of all time?
Christian. That's the one.
Being a Japanese-Brazilian, what's it like when
you go to Japan?
I went there once and the team manager said I
didn't need my visa, so I got there and they put
me in jail for three days for not having a visa.
I was only a five-day trip and I was in jail for
three. I don't want to go back to Japan.
Everyone's like, "Oh, you've got to go to Japan!"
but I don't want to.
-Michael Burnett
Mega slob.