HEARTS LIKE A WHEEL
Men’s street skating at the X Games

Story and pictures by John Grafman The Street Skate venue challenges a world-class field of 21 with stair steps, rails, ramps, gaps, benches, ledges, and raised surfaces. Being able to Ollie at will from one surface to the next, it’s as if the laws of gravity don’t apply to these pros. This is what sets these contenders apart, and earns them an invite to the X Games. When this group isn’t leaping tall rails in a single bound, ala’ Superman, they’re grinding them down to specks of metal. The men’s Street League Skateboarding final on the afternoon of August 3rdis taking place on the Event Deck at L.A. Live. The hour and a half action packed final is comprised of the top eight scoring skaters that survived the four prelim elimination rounds. The SLS is broken down into a couple sub-groups. The Flow section covers the entire Street Skate venue, and judging is based on the entire run. The Control section focuses on one trick, and one trick only. The skaters are being judged on the best score of each in the Flow section (2 runs), and the Control section (5 tricks). The combined top six scoring competitors advance to the Impact section (6 tricks). Those that advance to the Impact section are judge on a single trick, but have six attempts at that, rather than limit of five attempts in the Control section of the event. The winners are ranked by the top four scores of each skater in either the Flow and/or Control section, along with the top four scores in the Impact section. Nyjah Huston, the one to watch, scores the gold medal in a decisive manner, at least as far as points are concerned. Last year, at the 2012 X Games in Los Angeles, Nyjah won a gold medal in the Real Street skate competition. Oh, he’s also won gold at the 2013 Street League at the X Games in both Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil and Barcelona, Spain. So, to say Nyjah was the favorite coming into this would be an understatement.

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