Canadian skateboarder Pierre Luc Gagnon took the honours in the vert competition of the 2011 Maloof Money Cup world skateboarding championships presented by Kumba Iron Ore in Kimberley this weekend with a spectacular display on the monster mini-mega ramp. Gagnon walked away with the title and a cheque for a whopping R560 000.
Thousands of skateboarding fans flocked to the brand-new Kimberley Skate Plaza over the weekend to see some of the top pro riders in the world compete in the vert and street skate sections of the world’s richest skateboarding competition with a total prize purse of R4-million. Three South African skaters Moses Adams, Christi Wiehahn and Dlamini Dlamini qualified to compete in the professional street skate competition.
As the sun set and a thunderstorm approached, Gagnon had the crowds gasping with his awesome technical ability. Megaramp legend Bob Burnquist finished second with Brazilian Pedro Barros in third place. “This is my first time in South Africa and I’ve had such a great time,” said Gagnon, known affectionately as PLG in skating circles. “The people out here are so supportive to vert skating and skateboarding in general. It’s amazing that Maloof is leaving a perfect vert ramp for the kids to learn on. I’m looking forward to coming back out here in the years to come and hopefully have more time to just hang out and see more of this incredible country.”
The contest continued on Sunday with the amateur and professional street skateboarding world championships finals. 32 South African amateurs qualified for the contest, while the top twelve pro riders tackled the sensational street course on Sunday. In the amateur championships, Justus Kotze from Cape Town took home the title and a cheque for R20 000. Durban boy Braxton Hane finished second with Alan Marola from Cape Town in third. Charles Steyn from Pretoria and Anthony de Mendonca of Johannesburg completed the top five placements.
Business has been booming in Kimberley over the past couple of days with skate fans across the country descending on the small town, once famous for its diamond mines. Accommodation facilities were fully booked and restaurants and businesses had to hire additional workers to help with the influx of fans. Dozens of busses have arrived, carrying fans from across the Northern Cape and the rest of the country and local campgrounds are overflowing. Officials from the Northern Cape Provincial Government said “we haven’t seen anything like this since the World Cup.”
