Brazilian skater Pamela Rosa – already the top-ranked Women’s Street skater in the World Skate rankings prior to this week after winning Dew Tour Long Beach and other events in 2019 – won Saturday’s Dew Tour Des Moines Street Semifinal by a commanding 8.81 point lead over 2nd place finisher Leticia Bufoni.
Rosa had the two highest-scoring runs of the contest. Her Semifinals win puts her in prime position for Sunday’s Final, where she’ll be the last skater to drop in, with the advantage of getting to survey the rest of the field before each of her runs.
“I’m so happy to be here and so happy with my run, my line today: thank you, Dew Tour,” Rosa said after the contest. “This skatepark is amazing. The girls today in Semifinals killed it. Tomorrow for the Final is a new day. Let’s go!”
The Semifinal ran with a best-of-two runs format. Run 2 was her best, opening with the biggest trick of the contest: a bigspin frontside boardslide. She followed it up with tricks including a feeble grind, frontside lipslide on the gap-to-rail feature, a crooked grind down the 11-stair Hubba ledge, and a backside disaster on the quarterpipe at the buzzer.
Sunday’s Final will shift to the full World Skate format, with a best-of-two runs section followed by the best trick section. In 2019 Rosa won multiple contests under that format, including Street League London, Dew Tour Long Beach, and the Street League World Championships on her home turf in São Paulo.
Rosa’s fellow Brazilian Leticia Bufoni finished 2nd, improving her score in Run 2 with a backside lipslide, 360 flip, gap to frontside tailslide to fakie, nosegrind, frontside feeble grind on the double set, and a big 180 gapping the Mountain Dew pallet.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Bufoni told field reporter Tina Dixon after the contest. “Everyone from Brazil is skating really well. I just hoped to make it into the Finals so I can make it into the Olympics—it’s a dream for me.”
Bufoni is looking forward to a return to the full World Skate format with the best trick section for Sunday’s Final. “Having just two runs is way more pressure. If you miss the first one you only have one left… it was a lot of pressure this morning, but I got it done. I’m going to the Finals!”
Roos Zwetsloot, representing Netherlands, finished 3rd, followed by Julia Brueckler (Austria), Rayssa Leal (Brazil), Keet Oldenbeuving (Netherlands), Lore Bruggeman (Belgium), and Poe Pinson (USA).
Sunday’s Final is the second-to-last opportunity for Street skaters to earn Olympic quota points in the World Skate rankings. The World Skate World Championships will be held next week in Rome, Italy.
1. Pamela Rosa (BRA) 33.12
2. Leticia Bufoni (BRA) 24.32
3. Roos Zwetsloot (NED)
4. Julia Brueckler (AUT)
5. Rayssa Leal (BRA)
6. Keet Oldenbeuving (NED)
7. Lore Bruggeman (BEL)
8. Poe Pinson (USA)
Top Three Runs from Women’s Street Semifinals | Dew Tour Des Moines 2021
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