2004 ASA Amateur World Championships
September 25, 2004

The Am Championships took place at the State Fair in Pomona, on the same battlefield the pros used two weeks before. There was funnel cake and Hot Dog On a Stick, haunted houses and Ferris wheel vomitoriums. And best of all, there was a whole lot of great rollerblading.

The park comp started with a field of sixty-eight skaters, the best ams in the world from as far away as Australia, Japan and France. Right away, there were a few surprises as Asian X Games champion, Rian Arnold and Sacramento Am Series champion David Lang didn’t qualify for finals. It wasn’t that they didn’t skate well either; the talent was just that good.

Jimmy Hake threw one of the best tricks in the prelims, a transfer disaster soul off the launch box, but couldn’t nail it in the finals. And Keegan Smith displayed impressive originality with a tweaked pud slide down the long ledge. But only the top eight skaters went pro on this day.

Kevin Raser pulled one of the best tricks of the day, a transfer disaster backside that put him in 8th and helped send him on to the pro ranks. Ohio skater, Jerry Butler (no relation to the porn star of the same name) took his relaxed style around the course, spinning into and out of lip tricks to finish 7th. Michael Dougherty looked like he was auditioning for a hip hop American idol as he rolled through the course, but tricks like an alley oop topside soul up the double rail and an inverted 720 off the moto jump helped take the judges’ minds off his antics.

Australian powerhouse, Kayd Anderson threw every true spin variation in the book, landing solidly in 5th place while French skater, Steven Aleil showed off his athletic side with a perfect zero spin to alley oop soul on the sub box.

From Fukuyama, Japan, Katsuhiko Sagata displayed incredible mastery of technicality with switch-ups on every rail and styled spins around the course. Danny Gerrick of Escondido, CA took the silver with some of the most solid skating of the day, including a flawless kind grind down the rail and a smooth 540. And the gold went to 15 year old, Christian Washington who opened with a 900 and then exploded around the course with a trick on every obstacle, including a topside acid to backside unity and a fakie 720 over the spine.

In the women’s comp, English skater Emma Brown put together a nice line that featured an alley oop topside soul and a 540 on the vert wall to take the bronze. Emilie Westphal threw down a 540 and some nice backsides for the silver. But it was Hayley Baker who took the gold with her 360s and porn star variations.

The sun had gone down by the time the vert comp started and the crowd wasn’t disappointed by the action as twenty-eight competitors from Japan, England and even Bulgaria vied for the status of pro. On this day, however, only the top four were granted pro status.

Swedish skater, Eric Persson, who busted his face and took fourteen stitches at the 2003 comp slid into 4th place with a terrific flat spin 540, a drifted 720, a zero spin to backside and a true spin mizu, making him the first ever Swedish pro. The bronze went to Rich Parker of Taunton, England who nailed a 900, an inverted 540 and a Garfunkel.

Felipe Oliveira became the next step in what is fast becoming a rich Brazilian tradition of great skating. He pulled seven foot airs, throwing flat spin 540s both ways, a fakie 900 and a topside forward porn star to take the silver medal. And the gold went to Kevin Marron-Lopez of Bruxelles, France who threw down some of the most solid skating those Fair Grounds had ever seen. His airs rang in at around eight feet; His inverted 540 and inverted 900 were stuck right under the coping and lip tricks like his alley oop makio were picturesque.

As the comp drew to a close, it was an emotional time for everybody as some skaters took their place in the pro ranks and some packed up and went home for another year of patient training.

Thanks to everybody who made the 2004 ASA Am Championships possible!

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