Photo: Dawn Moisanen
Record crowds saw Jimmy "The Rad Train" Riha win the Arbor World Cup Downhill at the Whistler Longboard Festival in the most exciting final race in years, coming from behind to defeat James Kelly and Kevin Reimer. Earlier in the day Elena Corrigal won the Women's event, Alex Hannigan won the Juniors, and reigning World Champ Abdil Mahdzan won the Street Luge.
A purpose-built environment for Olympic gravity sports, the Whistler Sliding Centre provided the perfect backdrop for downhill skateboarding. This year the event was live-streamed, allowing the entire world to take part in this unique event. Cameras mounted on flying foxes provided spectacular angles for viewing the race, creating a dramatic spectacle for those not in attendance.
Technical difficulties with the timing system forced organisers to use a race-to-qualify format on Saturday, resulting in some unexpected seedings for Saturday's finals. Last week's Maryhill winner Patrick Switzer was eliminated in the quarter finals, while Zak Maytum failed to progress past the second round, while the new wave of Brazilian riders continued to make a mark, with Max Ballesteros and Ricardo Reis making it to the semi-finals, along with riders from Canada, Australia and the USA.
The semis and finals featured spectacular shoulder to shoulder action, culminating in an epic battle between Kevin Reimer and James Kelly, who battled each other down almost the entire course while Jimmy Riha sat in the pocket waiting for a mistake. Reimer and Kelly both scrubbed a corner, allowing room for Riha to overtake, and he cruised to the finish line making victory signs to the crowd.
In the women's event, Elena Corrigal dominated the field for the entire three days, and appeared unbeatable. In second place was Anna O'Neill, and together they look set to rule the sport for years to come.
The Junior Skateboard final featured a spectacular crash when Chance Gaul attempted to ride over the unpaved section on the inside of the final corner, but came unstuck and almost took out Connor Ferguson with him.
The ice luge track provided the perfect setting for the first appearance of Street Luge at the Whistler Longboard Festival. Current world champion Abdil Mahzdhan from Malaysia continued his recent impressive form, beating a high-quality field including Great Britain's Peter Elliott and the USA's Mike McIntyre.
Open Skateboard Results
1 Jimmy Riha
2 James Kelly
3 Kevin Reimer
4 Nicolas Desmarais
5 Dillon Stephens
6 Ricardo Reis
7 Byron Essert
8 Brendan Davidson
9 Riley Harris
10 Chadwick Gibson
11 Jackson Shapiera
12 Max Ballesteros
13 Patrick Switzer
14 Justin Rouleau
15 Tony Graves
16 Bryce Brady
17 Nick Breton
18 George Mackenzie
19 Kyle Wester
20 Spencer Smith
21 Max Wippermann
22 Charlie Darragh
23 John Barnet
24 Brian Cortright
25 Jonas Richter
26 Alex Charleson
27 Charles Ouimet
28 Aidan Lynds
29 Graham Collingwood
30 Luke Melo
31 Ville Hietala
32 Maxwell Capps
33 Louis Pilloni
34 Kyle Martin
35 Thiago Duarte
36 Graeme Hystad
37 Scott Lembach
38 Alex Hannigan
39 Danny Carlson
40 Connor Wagner
41 Zak Maytum
42 Elena Corrigall
43 Ethan Lau
44 Tommy Watson
45 Alex Dehmel
46 Garrett Creamer
47 Mathew Kroetsch
48 Cam Brickenden
49 Justin Reading
50 Mackenzie Yoshida
51 David Price
52 Maxim Garant-Rousseau
53 Jeff Woodfine
54 Travis Craig
55 Anna O'Neill
56 Deen Mondt
57 Jordan Perrett
58 Zen Shikaze
59 Leon Ritter
60 Ryan Vitale
61 Chase Johnson
62 Alex Johnston
63 Chance Gaul
64 Jordan LeBlanc
65 Peter Eubank
66 Wolfgang Coleman
67 Dane Hanna
68 Bradley Cameron
69 Tyler Guimond
70 Dan Thatcher
71 Roberto Cobian
72 Liam Morgan
73 Bryan Reich
74 Doug Tolman
75 Zac Sharp
76 Pablo Quiles
77 Andrew Chapman
78 Nick Lutsenko
79 Clayton Romaniuk
80 Brennan Abildt
81 Justen Ortiz
82 Noah Sakamoto
83 Kevin Bouaich
84 Michael Labreche
85 Max Gradlmiller
86 Gunnar Morin
87 Brendan Cummings
88 Connor Ferguson
89 Chip Wood
90 Patrick Schep
91 Max Myers
92 Colm Lyons
93 Carlos Lascoutx
94 James Ware
95 Pedro Frangulis
96 Drew Edwards
Womens results
1 Elena Corrigall
2 Anna O Neil
3 Marie Bougourd
4 Victoria Waddington
5 Amy Brendon
6 Jolanda Vogler
Junior results
1 Alex Hannigan
2 Connor Ferguson
3 Bryan Reich
4 Dane Hanna
5 Oliver Korman
6 Chance Gaul
Street Luge results
1 Abdil Mahdzan
2 Kolby Parks
3 Peter Elliott
4 Mike McIntyre
