Fourteen-year-old American skater Gavin Bottger surprised on Saturday, winning the Dew Tour Des Moines Men’s Park Semifinal to take the first of 8 spots in Sunday’s Final. His Run 2 score from Heat 2 held up against the stacked field of pre-seeded skaters in Heat 3.
Bottger says he was inspired by watching Zion Wright put down the next two highest scores of the competition, also in Heat 2.
“Zion’s run was insane, and it put a land-it-or-slam mentality in my head before Run 2, Bottger says. “It’s pretty crazy. All these guys are killing it.”
Bottger ran into his run from behind the Toyota feature on course, then launched an alleyoop 270 transfer from the hip into the bank, into a body jar on the next wall. Other highlights included a backside 360 over the center island, backside 540, 50-50 on the rainbow rail, frontside ollie, frontside boneless, one-foot lien 360, and a Cab heelfip Indy at the buzzer, for a score of 86.72.
He’s now one of 7 skaters representing USA on his way to the 8-man Final, a situation partly made possible by a sportsmanlike assist from the entire Brazilian contingent in Heat 3: Pedro Barros, Pedro Quintas Luiz Francisco, each with their berths to Tokyo with the Brazilian team already assured, all did goof runs for fun in Run 3 as a kind of protest vote after they felt judges underscored Tom Schaar in Run 1. Once Schaar’s Run 3 score put him at #7, the Brazilians opted not to jeopardize his chance at making the top-3 cut to make the USA squad for Tokyo.
“Tom killed it – he destroyed this whole park right in the beginning before the rain and he got a result we didn’t understand,” Barros said, explaining the strategy after the contest. “Much love to Tom.”
Schaar is currently ranked #4 for Men’s Park among the USA Skateboarding squad after Jagger Eaton took over the #3 spot at the USA National Championships earlier this month. He said he was grateful for the gift from his Brazilian friends.
“They’re the best,” he said. “They’re just skateboarders. That’s how they do it.”
Zion Wright had the two most thrilling runs of the contest, in Heat 2. Run 2 was his best, with an overcrook grind on the rainbow rail, a massive backside air, a straight ollie over the center island, a body jar, a frontside Smith grind, a frontside air, a frontside Smith grind on the hip feature, a frontside blunt, a heelflip Indy, a backside 360 Indy over the center island, a backside 540, and, just after the buzzer, a bigspin over the hip.
Swedish skater Oskar Rozenberg finished 3rd. His best was Run 3, with highlights including a 5-0 grind over the rainbow rail, a bigspin backside disaster, blunt pulloff fakie into a fakie lipslide on the next wall, a backside noseblunt, and a backside 360, improving on his Run 1 score but remaining in the #3 spot.
Get ready for fireworks in the Final: it’s the last opportunity to earn Olympic quota points for the Park discipline, and the 7 Americans are vying for just three spots on the trip to Tokyo. Points on the line tomorrow for the top 8 range from 60,000 for 1st place to 7,080 for 8th place.
For some context to how heated that battle will be, check out the current top 10 in the USA Skateboarding Men’s Park points rankings:
1. Heimana Reynolds (123,320)
2. Cory Juneau (88,700)
3. Jagger Eaton (50,830)
4. Tom Schaar (50,180)
5. Alex Sorgente (39,110)
6. Tate Carew (23,730)
7. Ben Hatchell (23,419)
8. Tristan Rennie (13,320)
9. Liam Cloud Pace (10,320)
10. Gavin Bottger (10,220)
Advancing to Final:
1. Gavin Bottger (USA) 86.72
2. Zion Wright (USA) 84.53
3. Oskar Rozenberg (SWE)
4. Jagger Eaton (USA)
5. Liam Pace (79.30)
6. Cory Juneau (USA) 78.04
7. Tom Schaar (USA) 77.05
8. Tate Carew (USA) 76.38
Top Three Runs from Men’s Park Semifinals | Dew Tour Des Moines 2021
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