Jagger Eaton, Garrett Reynolds and Jose Torres
win Simple Session 18
The 18th edition of the annual Simple Session contest went down this weekend,
February 3 – 4 at the Saku Arena in Tallinn, Estonia. The event was dedicated to the 100th birthday of the Republic of Estonia.
In skateboarding, Simple Session first-timer and youngest finalist, 16-year-old Jagger Eaton USA took the victory, followed by Zion Wright USA and Vincent Milou FRA.
"Jagger Eaton was the undisputed #1 qualifier – a perfect 30 second introduction followed with great use of the entire course, speed and style, and the most variety of difficult tricks and combinations of switch tricks on the rails. In the Finals, he followed it up with a flawless 1st run, and although all of the other skaters had a chance to win in the 2nd round, he was already declared the winner as the last to go, having a great victory run,” said Simple Session skateboarding MC Dave Duncan. The Simple Session also kicked off the World Cup Skateboarding 2018 season.
Jamie Foy USA and Beaver Fleming USA took home the Red Bull Skate Best Trick prizes (street and park respectively) – Foy for his frontside blunt big flip-out and Fleming a spectacular swift-roll over the KellyBar fly-box.
In BMX street contest, Garrett Reynolds USA took his 4th win at Simple Session (previously in 2008, 2009 and 2017). Bruno Hoffman GER was second and Broc Raiford USA came in third place. In BMX park, Jose Torres ARG won the gold, Irek Rizaev RUS won silver, and Kenneth Tencio CRI the bronze medal.
"Torres is just powerful, non-stop, not scared – he goes higher than most and packs a lot into his run. He was really consistent and that's what got him the win this weekend," commented BMX head judge Bart De Jong. " And Garrett is Garrett! He's been-there-done-that, and knows when to deliver. He's basically on a different level, always. He showed that he can stay on top and make it work, when it matters."
On top of being the overall BMX street winner, Garrett Reynolds was also awarded the Visit Estonia "Epic Estonia Trip" best trick prize for making the best use of the Estonia 100 and Visit Estonia obstacles in the Simple Session 18 contest course.
The contest hosted 159 athletes from 27 countries in total.
Judging the BMX competitions were Bart de Jong NED (head judge), Markus Wilke GER, Brian Kachinsky USA, Van Homan USA, Toms Silins LAT and David Gleworth GBR. The skateboarding competitions were judged by Dan Cates GBR (head judge), Pat Duffy USA, Kirill Korobkov RUS, Vitaly Kotov RUS and Pärtel Niitaru EST.
Simple Session Finals were broadcast LIVE in partnership with Red Bull TV with hosts Ed Leigh and James Threlfall, alongside skateboarding expert Chris Pastras and Simple Session's 5-time winner Drew Bezanson as BMX expert.
The skateboarding and BMX Finals were streamed LIVE on Red Bull Facebook and YouTube. For the first time, the Red Bull Skate Best Trick contest was for the first time ever streamed in VR
via Facebook. Check it out!
At the arena, the Finals were hosted by announcers Andy Zeiss and Darryl Nau in BMX, and Dave "Double D" Duncan and Mark Brewster in skateboarding.
More to be added after the event. Photos are royalty free, when used for Simple Session coverage. Please credit the photographers.
Simple Session will return with Simple Summer Session 18 on
August 4 – 5, 2018, in Riga, Latvia, Barona skatepark.
Simple Session 19 main event will take place on
February 2 – 3, 2019, in Tallinn, Estonia, Saku Arena.
Simple Summer Session 2018 in Riga, Latvia TEASER TRAILER
Simple Session 18 is dedicated to the 100th birthday of the Republic of Estonia.
The dedication programs last until the end of 2018 with more than 150 events
in Estonia and abroad.
Simple Session 18 athletes test-ride the contest presenter KellyBar snack!
Estonian freestyle skier and the youngest winner of Winter X-Games Kelly Sildaru launched her own brand of snacks called Kellybar at Simple Session 18 #kellybar. Follow Kelly on Facebook.
