Hello again friends, it certainly has been a while! I imagine that, for many of you, this may be your first visit to the LateTricks website, so let’s get you up to speed.
LateTricks was formed back in 2013 with the original goal of being a digital freestyle magazine, and initially focusing on publishing regular articles, hosting freestyle demos and filming events, jams and full-length video parts. Over the years that followed, LateTricks became increasingly known as a contest-focused entity, with a particular focus on filming and sharing runs from contests around the globe and building out our comprehensive contest result database.
As people became increasingly focused on social media sites for their content, rather than ‘traditional’ websites, our time became more focused on the filming aspects of LateTricks, meaning that the website became less of a priority. Coming into 2025, spurred on by the return of the WFSA website and their commitment to regularly sharing content, we’ve been inspired to recommit to the website and hope to start sharing a lot more content from now on!
Now that you’re all caught up, let’s get on to why you’re here. For the first four years of its existence, a recurring feature on the website was our yearly lists of the top professional and amateur freestylers (based on contest performance, video output and just general radness), as well as the top full-length video parts and our picks to freestylers to look out for over the coming year.
Whilst many of the pros who were competing back then are still competing now, a new wave of innovative, technically gifted and frighteningly consistent pros has been storming the contest scene in recent years. In addition to pushing their own limits and achieving previously unthought of levels of excellence within their routines, these skaters have also driven the old guard to step up their game, meaning that there has never been a more exciting time to watch a pro contest!
The definition of a true professional has also become more refined during this time. Eight years ago, the key factor in a skater turning pro was ticking the box next to “pro” rather than “am” at registration. Whilst this still happens to some degree today, the scene has rallied behind a more idealistic vision of a professional – someone who is unquestionably skilled, brings something unique to freestyle and makes a proactive effort to progress the sport.
So, that brings us on to our list. We have selected the five pros who, over the last 12 months, have shown that they truly embody this vision. In addition to contest domination, these skaters all bring something unique to freestyle, which we, as a community, are all the better for.
Anyway, we’ve rambled on long enough, so let’s get down to it. Here are LateTricks’ top five professional freestyle skateboarders from 2024.
Daniel Adam
If you’re an active freestyler and you haven’t heard of Daniel Adam, you must have been living under a rock for a few years now. Daniel’s skating is the purest form of freestyle. Fluid, flowing footwork, unparalleled mastery of technical manoeuvres and a seemingly endless catalogue of tricks. Daniel is undoubtedly one of your favourite pro’s favourite pros and truly a delight to watch perform.
In 2025, representing Never Enough Skateboards, Daniel dominated the competitive scene, winning every single event that he competed in. This included both the DFSO contest in the Netherlands, as well as the long-running Paderborn contest in Germany, and, most notably, the World Championships in Brandenburg an der Havel. Skating against the largest and heaviest-stacked pro line-up of the year, Daniel saw off tough competition with a beautiful, near-flawless run, rightfully earning himself the title of World Champion.
Ichinoshin Suzuki
From one of the top ams of 2023 straight to the top pros of 2024, Moonshine Skateboard’s Ichinoshin’s rise through the ranks has been incredible. Ending up just behind Daniel in 2nd place at the World Championships, whilst also winning the Best Trick contest, Ichinoshin has proven he able to compete alongside the best of the best and, at a very young age, still has significant potential ahead of him!
In addition to the World Championships, Ichinoshin competed twice more in Japan, which unquestionably has one of the most heavily stacked pro divisions in the world. Two incredible routines saw him earn a spot on the podium on both occasions, with judges amazed with the unbelievable trick density of his runs, as well as his technicality. For his efforts, Ichinoshin earned the coveted spot of world’s number one professional freestyler in the WFSA rankings.
Harry Fisher
To say that Harry’s progression in recent years has been a surprise would be unfair, owing to the evidently high level of skill he has demonstrated since first stepping onto a skateboard; however, you only have to look at his contest record to see how impressive it truly is. From joint-last place at the 2022 Urban Rural Ride Contest, Harry has progressively risen through the ranks, contest-by-contest, earning his first amateur victory at Paderborn in 2023 and turning pro by the end of the year.
Moving into 2024, representing Putain Skateboards, Harry started off the year strongly with a podium finish at the DFSO contest, before winning the ABF Freestyle Contest in Perigueux, France. Harry then rounded out the year with another podium finish and more-than-respectable top ten finishes at Paderborn and the World Championships, placing second overall in the annual WFSA rankings.
Yuzuki Kawasaki
In terms of jaw-dropping, unique technical tricks, Yuzuki is undoubtedly world number one right now. Every few weeks, Yuzuki drops a new trick on Instagram that is so unfathomably complex that it leaves you not only questioning what is actually possible on a skateboard, but also the laws of physics themselves.
Riding for Flip Skateboards, Yuzuki is something of an oddity: a purely freestyle skateboarder sponsored by a mainstream skateboarding brand. You only have to look at his effortless style and technical tricks to understand it though: what brand wouldn’t want him! In addition to his incredible Instagram page, Yuzuki has also been something of a contest destroyer in recent years, with 2024 being no exception. Competing at three contests in Japan, Yuzuki podiumed on all three occasions, including two first-place finishes. If Yuzuki starts to travel more in 2025, the rest of the world’s skaters had better watch out!
Kai Tanabe
After singing Yuzuki’s praises, it’s only natural that the only skater who could manage to beat him in a contest this year would make our list. Kai Tanabe is quickly establishing herself as one of those once-in-a-generation talents, with an incredible contest record and an unparalleled blend of smooth footwork and precisely executed tricks that turns her runs from “routines” into a single, constant piece of performance art.
Riding for Waltz Skateboards, Kai has performed consistently strongly at contests, taking one first place and two top-five finishes during 2024. Kai’s talents extend far beyond her contest performance alone, skating in various demos throughout the year and regularly posting spectacular new combos and tricks on Instagram. At an early stage of her skating career, Kai has already shown that she is more than capable of competing at the highest level and will undoubtedly remain a key figure in Japan’s dominant scene for many years.
Honourable Mentions
Jotaro Oba
Jotaro is one of those freestylers who has been kind of going under the radar in recent years, but the closer you look at the results, the more you can see of how amazing he really is. Looking at his performance in the three stacked Japanese contests, Jotaro has podiumed on all three occasions. Watching his routine in the final Japanese contest of the year was truly terrifying. Video part-ending tricks, back-to-back. Had it not have been for the flawless performances from Yuzuki and Kai during these events, Jotaro would easily have taken the win. For us, there is no question that he will take his first win in the near future.
Daniel Popescu
After dominating the amateur contest scene for years, it came as no surprise that Daniel would immediately become a threat when he moved into the pro division. Building on a successful debut in 2023, Putain Skateboards’ Daniel came into 2024 in similarly excellent form, placing well in four contests around the globe, including a first place finish at the inaugural Slatina Skate Open, which earned him a fifth-place finish in the overall WFSA rankings.
Marcio Torres
If you follow Marcio on Instagram, he is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable faces on your feed, regularly posting fun and skilful clips and, in the process, amassing a significant following. In addition to his online presence, Marcio has performed consistently well at a competitive level, winning all three freestyle contests held in Brazil in 2024, including two in-person events and one online-only event.
Denham Hill
There is no end to the nice things that we could say about Denham. In addition to his unquestionable skating ability, which combines a unique, aggressive style with an eclectic array of tricks, Denham’s altruistic efforts to support freestyle skateboarding, as well as freestylers themselves, show that he is a model pro in the truest sense of the word. This has been further compounded with his stellar competitive performance in 2024, where Denham earned a spot on the podium at every contest he competed at, resulting in a sixth-place in the overall WFSA rankings.
Isamu Yamamoto
Some things never change. Isamu made our top lists in the amateur division in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and in the pro division in 2016. It’s been eight years and the man is still up here. That’s just madness! Powell Peralta’s Isamu has been traveling the globe once again in 2024, and whilst he only attended one contest (the World Round Up), it was a definitive victory. You only have to have a glance at his Instagram page to see how incredible he is – not many people can film the hard trick first, then stack another two minutes of back-to-back hard tricks straight after it! An unbelievably talented man.
And those are all of our top picks! This year was particularly challenging as the level of the current professionals continues to rise, and we don’t expect it will get any easier next year! So, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with our selection? Who else’s name do you think should be up here? Head on over to the LateTricks Facebook page and let us know!
