SLS Made Waves with the Santa Monica Takeover

Street League Skateboarding Hosts First-Ever Takeover Stop on the Santa Monica Pier with Massive Turnout for Community-Focused Event

Joslin On Fire – Earns First SLS Win Following 2024 Comeback Season

Chloe Covell Dominates in Groundbreaking Win — “Go Big or Go Home”

The 2025 Street League Skateboarding (SLS) Championship Tour brought skateboarding back to its roots with a free-admission stop on the Santa Monica Pier. SLS’s inaugural “Takeover” event transformed the pier into a community-focused festival attended by over 6,000 people. The event featured iconic Los Angeles food spots like Heavy Handed, Prince St. Pizza, Villa’s Tacos, Uncle Paulie’s, 10/10 Burgers, Tacos 1986, and more.

Hours before gates opened, fans were already lining up down the beach. High-profile names such as Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), Matt “M-Shadows” Sanders of Avenged Sevenfold, Bradly Martyn, Jaden Hossler, Faze Lacy, Mike Majlak, Holly Madison, and others were in attendance. MGK also surprised the crowd with a 90s hip hop DJ set, featuring tracks from Prodigy. Skateboard pros and legends, including Christian Hosoi, Eric Koston, Pat Duffy, Paul Rodriguez, Boo Johnson, and more were also in attendance, adding to the historic energy of the day.

In the Men’s Final, Chris Joslin (USA) delivered a career-defining performance to earn his first-ever SLS win. Joslin landed a series of powerful tricks later in the competition, including a Nollie Inward Heelflip Backside 180 and a Backside Bigspin over the rail, to finish with a 27.2 and take the win. Shane O’Neill (AUS) followed closely behind in second place with a clean 26.3, while Angelo Caro (PER), Wildcard Jam winner, took his slate on the podium in third with a 26.2. Canada’s Cordano Russell, who had the early lead in the competition with 8.8 and 9.0 scoring tricks, finished fourth with a total of 25.7.

Known for his signature “G-MA” spray-painted grip tape, when asked about his resilience and where he got his strength from, an emotional Joslin replied “Grandma. Straight up. I owe her everything.”

Earlier in the day, the Men’s Wildcard Jam – a brand new format for SLS – gave rising stars a chance to break through on the global stage. Cordano Russell (CAN), Julian Agliardi (USA), and Angelo Caro (PER) all advanced into the Finals, while legends like Ryan Sheckler (USA) and Zion Wright (USA) dropped in for special appearances, uniting multiple generations of street skating in one place. 

The Women’s Final saw Chloe Covell (AUS) return to form with a commanding win. Sitting comfortably in first before her final trick, Covell needed only a 3.0 to lock in the victory, but opted to ‘go big’ with a Switch Flip down the set – earning an 8.3 and finishing with 23.8 points. Aoi Uemura (JPN) and Margielyn Didal (PHI) rounded out the podium in second and third with scores of 19.3 and 10.0 respectively. Miyu Ito (JPN) and Paige Heyn (USA) tied for fourth with 7.8 each. 

“I just had to send it, you know?” said Chloe Covell when asked about her final trick attempt. “Go big or go home.”

FULL RESULTS

Women's Results

Men's Results

SLS continues the season from the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia, Brazil on July 12 & 13 which can be streamed live on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/sls.