Chaz Ortiz, Jamie Foy Go On After Men’s Street Open Qualifier at Dew Tour Long Beach 2019
Sixty-one skater from 25 countries entered, only 12 advanced in search of Olympic qualifying points.
An absolutely star studded list of world-class elite made up the names on the roster for the Men’s Street Open Qualifier at Dew Tour Long Beach 2019, and they did not disappoint in the slightest. With 61 skaters in total, representing for 25 different nations, the first-ever U.S. Olympic qualifying event for men’s street, the stakes were high as only 12 would advance.
Similar to the scene around the bowl, the street course was packed with some of skateboarding’s most familiar, fan favorites and relatively unknowns competing alongside each other. As to be expected, a few upsets occurred in the form of Alex Midler, Trent McClung, Chris Colbourn and Axel Cruysberghs not reaching the top 12 in order to advance.
“I’m not against it, at all,” said Axel Cruysberghs with regard to the Olympic movement in skateboarding. “It will open it up to kids all over the world. Everybody can skate.” Axel went on to comment about the new format at this year’s event, admitting it to be a challenge but enjoying it nevertheless. “I feel like I’m getting used to it. The only thing is that it takes a long time to make your way from qualifiers to even semi-finals. I just skated and I am happy with the way I skated, so I can’t complain.”
A few notables on the course that did make their way through to the quarter final were Jamie Foy, Ryo Sejiri, Gustavo Ribeiro, Marcos Montoya and longtime Dew Tour athlete and past champion, Chaz Ortiz. Ortiz ended the event in second place after absolutely terrorizing the course with tricks like kickflip back 5-0 on the down hubba, a crooked grind to nollie heelflip out of a bump to ledge and a kickflip backside smith on the A-frame rail.
See how Ortiz measure up against the rest of the field in the Men’s Street Quarter Final on Saturday at 3:45pm PT on DewTour.com/LIVE
Men’s Street Open Qualifier Results
1.) Kayaki Ike, JPN 86.96
2.) Chaz Ortiz, USA 83.50
3.) Sora Shirai, JPN 83.00
4.) Emanuel Santiago, PUR 82.56
5.) Gustavo Ribeiro, POR 81.30
6.) Jamie Foy, USA 80.33
7.) Maxim Habanec, CZE 75.93
8.) Yukito Aoki, JPN 75.00
9.) Konstantin Kabanov, RUS 73.16
10.) Ryo Sejiri, JPN 72.30
11.) Marcos Montoya, USA 71.60
12.) Matias Dell Olio, ARG 71.10
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