Ivan Monteiro and Broc Raiford took home gold at Simple Session 21

Yet another epic Simple Session crowned their kings of skate and BMX street. The skateboarding podium belonged to Ivan Monteiro (BRA), Rišo Tury (SVK), and Alex Decunha (UK). In BMX, the first three places were awarded to Broc Raiford (USA), Courage Adams (ESP), and Reed Stark (USA).

Finals day at 21st Simple Session kicked off with skating finals where Arturs Bogdanovic from Latvia had the challenging task of being the first one on the floor, but the performances got crazier and crazier as time passed. Iconic Lizard King (USA) really got the energy levels up at the vibrant Põhjala factory park. Danny Leon (ESP) and Dario Mattarollo (ARG) showed a large variety of tricks, which the judges mostly look out for.

But it was the 23-year old Ivan Monteiro from Brazil who had the most focus, style, and variety and landed all his tricks perfectly. His first run earned him an outstanding 92.75 points and the highest spot on the podium.

Rišo Tury from Slovakia was a very close second with two good runs (highest of them 90.5 points), and with his second run, Alex Decunha (UK) snatched the third place (with 89 points) from Simple Session veteran Danny Leon (87,37 points).

Guys were doing crazy tricks, says judge Duncan

"We loved the arena, we loved the course, there was something for everybody," the legendary Dave Duncan, one of the judges at Simple Session, commented. "We also had an excellent best trick session. Guys were doing crazy tricks; that's what we like. "

At the Red Bull skate best trick contest on the street side of things, Nolan Miskell from California threw down a bluntslide down through the kinked rail. But the best of the best trick went to Diego Fiorese from Italy. "He did a very creative, complicated trick. He jumped down from highest wall with nollie heelflip to the steep ditch," explained Duncan. Street best trick champion Nolan Miskell pulled another super wild maneuver which happened after the buzzer but was from another world video game move – he 50-50'd up to a wall-ride and boardslided down from it. Arguably the trick of the weekend.

Broc Raiford was crowned the king of Simple Session BMX after a dramatic final.

The BMX finals at Simple Session 2021 demonstrated everything this sport has to offer, from drama to camaraderie to simply fantastic tricks. Winner Broc Raiford says it was super intense before his winning run.

"Watching all my homies and fellow riders doing their thing and ride super hard and I just knew that when it came down to my run I had to leave it all out on the course and I'm so thankful that I landed everything – even more thankful it ended up giving me the win. "– Raiford commented after receiving his gold medal at 21st Simple Session.

Reed Stark (USA) and Joe Jarvis (GBR) were going at mad speeds and it was a close call, but it was Raiford who put together the most banger run, earning an outstanding 92.33 points.

As if the race for the podium wasn't tight enough, Gaspar Guendulain (ARG) delivered some extra drama. The Argentinian went into his second run at a third position when his fork and front wheel fell off in the first landing. He got a second chance at his second run as a last one in the second heat after Courage Adams had pushed him to fourth position, but even though he did a solid run with a full support from the crowd, the podium had already been decided.

After qualifying first, Courage Adams' (ESP) first run might have been a little disappointing, only earning him 70.66 points, but he came back stronger and smashed his second run, getting 92 points from the jury.

Reed Stark was a real crowd pleaser and killed all his tricks, getting the bronze with 87.33 points.

Bart de Jong from the jury admitted that it was a difficult decision for the jury, because in the end it was up to two very different riders. "Broc Raiford did a lot of powerful tricks, whereas Courage Adams had more skill," he explained. "But Broc's runs were so powerful, he pulled everything, he kept everything going and was just non-stop, he started really good, and it ended terrific, that's what the judges are looking for."

"These are the best guys out there. They always make it work and know how to put on a show," de Jong noted how enjoyable this year's competition was. "This was a very unique course, and if you have the best riders on an excellent course, then they can get creative."

During the finals all the fans at the venue and behind screens could vote for their favourite skateboarder and BMX rider. As a result, Visit Estonia Viewers Choice award went in skateboarding Chris Gregson (USA) and in BMX the audiences and judges agreed both that their favorite rider is Broc Raiford.

GT BMX Best Trick award went to greek rider Filippakos Baf who pulled a Luc-E grind to hard tailwhip on a GT gap to outledge.

Let's sum up with the golden boy Broc Raiford's words: "The course was super fun this year and it was super cool to be back here in Estonia and what better way to leave Estonia after re-independence day than walking out with the win. "

As a last feature in the LIVE-broadcast Simple Session 22 dates were announced April 23-24 2022 in Tallinn.

If you missed out the event, don't despair – all the live action from today is available to watch as replay:

Watch LIVE-show REPLAYS and finals day highlights on https://simple.session.ee/live and on our YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/simpelsession

Highlights of the skate qualifications (Day 1) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4BhZJpkuOc
Highlights of the BMX qualifications (Day 1) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFkemDN9rhk

See you again! Cheers and thanks to everyone!
www.session.ee

Check out Simple Session Photos here – https://www.flickr.com/photos/simplesession/albums

Results and start lists here – https://live.rawmotion.com/SS21