2020 Tokyo Olympic Gold Medalist Yuto Horigome Locks Up SLS Win in New Best Trick Format Event; A Nail-Biter for Second as Alex Midler and Felipe Gustavo Tie in Points with Midler taking Silver on Account of Higher Individual Trick Score and Gustavo Settling for Third.
15-Year-Old Liz Akama’s Impressive 2024 Form Continues with Victory in Vegas; Zeng Wenhui Marks Return to SLS Grabbing Second; Veteran Poe Pinson Rounds Out Podium
(Las Vegas, NV – March 30, 2024) Street League Skateboarding continued its 2024 season with its debut APEX best-trick format event in Las Vegas. The new condensed model featured classic street spot Beverly Hills High School 9, a rail that has featured in many iconic skate videos while the intimacy of the APEX venue provided a “Fight Club meets Street Skateboarding” atmosphere. The 8 men and 6 women skaters battled in a high-stakes, winner-takes-all competition, with the results providing important points to Super Crown World Championship qualification.
In the men’s final, Japan’s Yuto Horigome led wire-to-wire with a dominant performance, landing three 9+ tricks enroute to his first SLS victory since taking top honors at SLS Tokyo in August of 2023. Horigome, having entered the contest the betting favorite, lived up to the expectations and left little doubt he will be a major factor for the 2024 SLS Super Crown World Championship. In the battle for second place, American Alex Midler dropped a contest high 9.4 trick on his final run to secure second place over Brazil’s Felipe Gustavo. While tied on overall points at 27.3, Midler got the nod due to tie’s being broken by the higher individual trick score. The second-place finish marked Midler’s first podium in SLS since 2021 while Gustavo showed his immense catalog of tricks in earning third.
Said Horigome: “I really liked the new Apex format because it’s so different from normal. I’m excited however for San Diego with the full format. I want to continue to score nines and have the best tricks.”
In the Women’s final, Japan’s Liz Akama landed her first three tricks (5.0, 5.1, 7.1), solidifying her in the top spot of the competition and adding to her resume of first place finishes. In recent years, Akama has consistently found herself on the podium and continues to prove herself as a top skater heading into 2024 Paris Olympics qualification. China’s Zeng Wenhui, marking her first SLS entry since the 2022 Rio Super Crown Final, impressed the judges notching the second highest score of the night in the women’s division with a 6.5 and making a late charge to secure silver. Rounding out the podium was American Poe Pinson who earned solid back-to-back 5.0 scores in the third and fourth rounds that Dutch veteran Roos Zwetsloot couldn’t match on her final runs.
Said Akama on her victory: “I had a lot of fun with the new Apex format because it’s so different from the normal rules of SLS. I’ll do my best to continue the success and win at San Diego while still showing my style.”
SLS continues the season from San Diego on April 20 which can be streamed live and free on Rumble Sports at https://rumble.com/sls. For more Street League Skateboarding news, including the Championship Tour updates, and more, go to www.streetleague.com and follow Street League Skateboarding on Instagram and Facebook.
