Freestyle Skateboarding contests have been few and far between over the last 20 years. In total, the UK has seen just 12 contests since 2003, 5 of which took place at the NASS Festival.
The last UK Freestyle contest took place back in 2013 with the World Championships. Though the surface was far from perfect, the contest ran (relatively) smoothly, drawing a fantastic reception from the crowd. German freestyler Sebastian Heupel took the number 1 spot in the pro contest, with Felix Jonsson winning the amateur contest. The top placing UK freestylers were John Hanson and Alex Foster in pro and amateur respectively.
The last UK Championships took place in 2011 at the NASS Festival over a rainy weekend in July. The contest was great fun, with the UK freestylers opting to spend almost the entirety of the weekend skating behind the pro park and even getting the opportunity to chat with Mike Vallely about his history of skating with Rodney Mullen. In the contest, Callum Bowran and John Hanson tied for the first place spot, followed by Ryan Fitzpatrick in 3rd.
And so, competitive freestyle skateboarding returned to the UK in 2015 for the UK Round Up. Freestylers made the trip from as far as Sweden and Holland to join in the fun and welcome the world’s first Instagram Grand Slam. In the pro/am contest that ensued, Tony Gale took first place, followed by Stefan “Lillis” Akesson and Erwin Shuvit, with Alex Foster and Denham Hill being the second and third placing UK freestylers.
Here is a full list of recent UK contests and top placing riders:
– UK Freestyle Championship 2003 – 1st Place Pro/Am Tony Gale
– UK Freestyle Championship 2004 – 1st Place Pro/Am Tony Gale and Rob Hodgson
– European Freestyle Championship 2005 – 1st Place Pro/Am Stefan “Lillis” Akesson
– UK Freestyle Championship 2005 – 1st Place Pro/Am Callum Bowran
– Freestyle World Championships 2006 – 1st Place Pro Gunter Mokulys, 1st Place Am Hans Smit
– European Freestyle Championship 2009 – 1st Place Pro/Am Gunter Mokulys
– UK Freestyle Championship 2011 – 1st Place Pro/Am Callum Bowran and John Hanson
– Freestyle World Championships 2013 – 1st Place Pro Sebastian Heupel, 1st Place Am Felix Jonsson
– The UK Round Up 2015 – 1st Place Pro/Am Tony Gale
– The UK Round Up 2016 – 1st Place Pro/Am Tony Gale
– The UK Round Up 2017 – 1st Place Pro/Am Tony Gale
– The UK Round Up 2018 – 1st Place Pro/Am Tony Gale
– The UK Round Up 2019 – 1st Place Pro/Am Stefan “Lillis” Akesson and John Hanson