Soulsports has just got back in from a weeklong trip to Dublin after organising a press trip to the DC King of Dublin Skateboard Contest. Check out the full event write up and a couple of images below.
Press Release:
Keith Walsh Crowned DC King of Dublin
Last weekend, Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th July, saw the first of the 2009 DC King of Series events kick off in Dublin, where local Keith Walsh was crowned the king of the two day amateur skateboarding contest, walking away with 2,500 Euro’s, a spot on the DC King’s Team and of course the bragging rights!
On day one of two, the DC US, European and UK skate teams and the city’s local skaters and contestants all met up at G1 Skateshop before skating across the city to the contest spot, Portobello Square, to skate the ledges and water gaps. With the spot fully de skate stopped and the gods shining down it made for a perfect set-up for Day One of the DC King of Dublin contest with everyone seeming stoked to have a skate event like this in their town.
Riding in heats of four, the 40 contestants flew through the 8 heats - 20 minutes a heat. The scene was awesome with the guys rolling deep to skate. The ledges of Portobello got handled and some amazing riding went down from both the 40 contestants and the DC pros, which included Jani Laitalia, Henning Braaten, Ruben Garcia, Manuel Margreiter, Jody Smith and Antony Lopez.
There were definite standouts from the days contest, but the judges, made up of the DC Pro Team, kept the scores close to their chests until Day Two when DC King of Dublin headed over to a rail spot, Wood Quay.
Sunday brought day two and the finals of DC King of Dublin—what a finals it was. It definitely went down as the best am skate contest Dublin’s ever seen. Outside of the spot, the scene was sick. The natural outdoor auditorium set up made a rad setting to watch Ireland’s best battle for the DC King of Dublin crown.
The spot for day two was decidedly heavier than at Portobello’s. Wood Quay was a long 12 stair with a new handrail added to the middle of it to mix it up. Men and boys were separated, with some of the skaters from Day One’s ledge spot not even showing up to skate. It didn’t look that big, but once the guys started jumping down, it was a different deal. And unless the ams were on their street game, they were out. With the DC team jumping in to keep the energy high, a lot of stuff went down by those actually competing. We’ll bare you the list of tricks, go watch them for yourself through the video recap at www.dcshoes.com/skate.
The finals boiled down and rising to the top were Keith Walsh, who took the top spot, followed by Joe Hill, and then Cian Eades. The boys were ripping. For their efforts, they split an impressive 5,000 Euros prize pot. It was an unprecedented opportunity to shred some otherwise-illegal street spots, get some exposure, and earn some Euros. Congratulations and thanks go out to all of the skaters and skate shops (especially G1) that made it an unforgettable contest and legendary success.
Really, the best way to see everything that went down in Dublin is to check the www.dcshoes.com/skate website, which has a gallery showcasing the event. Later, don’t forget to watch out for DC King of Dublin footage in an upcoming podcast video.
Keith Walsh
Portobello's
Wood Quay
