The world of professional freestyle skateboarding is driven by passion. A passion to explore your own creativity, to push yourself to your limits and see what you’re truly capable of. It isn’t something you do for the money. There’s no energy drink sponsorship or signature shoe at the end of the road. If you make it, you make it because you’re passionate and dedicated. You make it because you love freestyle skateboarding – and that’s more than enough for you.
In 2015, the world of freestyle skateboarding saw over a dozen contests and hundreds of amazing video parts, making it difficult to single out our picks of the top professional freestyle skateboarders. After an extensive look back over the year, here are our picks for 2015:
Gunter Mokulys
There is no way you could compile a list of the top freestylers of 2015 without even considering this man. Last year, Gunter entered four contests, competing against the world’s finest freestylers, and took the top spot in all four. Despite being 52 years old, Gunter is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down and we can’t wait to see what he has in store this year.
Tony Gale
Having taken a long absence from competitive freestyle, Tony Gale burst back onto the scene with style in 2015. Putting together fast, powerful routines in Paderborn and at the UK Round Up, Tony took 2nd and 1st place respectively. Along with his Instagram NBDs, countless demos and work on the freestyle podcast, Tony also picked up a spot on the Moonshine skateboard team.
Moichi Suzuki
Legendary Japanese freestyler Moichi Suzuki started 2015 on excellent form, taking first place in the Oyans Cup. Dropping one of the most chilled out video parts in 2015, Moichi went on to reach the quarter finals in the head to head All Japan Freestyle Contest and took 2nd place in the Futaba Cup.
Honorary Mentions
Matheus Navarro
Performing solidly in contests throughout the year, Matheus took 3rd in the Big Rio Freestyle Contest, 2nd in the Campeonato Brasilero de Freestyle Skate and 1st in the 2 Etapa do Brasileiro de Freestyle Skateboard.
Connor Burke
As well as putting out one of the definitive freestyle parts of 2015, Connor took 1st place in the US Freestyle Championships with a flawless run for the second year in a row.
Masahiro Fujii
Arranging contests, demos and jams throughout the year, Masahiro does an incredible amount for the Japanese scene. In 2015, he also dropped some incredible footage and took 1st in the All Japan Freestyle Contest.
Rene Shigueto
Rene threw down some of the most powerful freestyle routines of the year, skating at a speed that would terrify a lot of freestylers, taking 3rd in the World Round Up and 2nd at the Big Rio Freestyle Contest.
Mike Osterman
One of the most effortlessly brilliant freestylers in the world right now, Mike took 2nd place at both the World Round Up and US Championships, as well as sharing consistently brilliant video parts throughout the year.
We’d love to hear more about who your favourite professional picks in 2015 were and your standout freestyle moments from the last twelve months. Join the discussion on the LateTricks Facebook page or tweet us @FSLateTricks.
