What a year for rollerblading! 2004 will forever be remembered as the year of the Yasutokos. Not a single vert comp slipped past the Japanese brothers from Takeshi’s gold medal at the X Games in LA to Eito’s win at the Bath Festival in England. Meanwhile on street, the battle raged between Stephane Alfano who took 1st at the Cincinnati MSS, Brian Aragon who won the NY IMYTA and Chris Haffey who dominated the LA IMYTA.

• Rollerblading Wrap-Up

Of all the subjective sports – and in action sports, that means all of them – rollerblading stands out as the most fair. Sure, rollerbladers have gripes. They fume, scream and even bombard the judges’ tower with water bottles. But at the end of the day, when the scores come in and the results are posted, everyone is generally in agreement.

• Rollerblading: A Judge's Perspective