On Saturday, 20th August 2011, Old Spitalfields Market in East London hosted the biggest skateboard event the UK has ever seen – the VANS Downtown Showdown 2011. The Downtown Showdown concept was created for skaters by skaters and after successful events in Turin (Italy) and Hamburg (Germany), Britain’s capital served as the next exciting new venue.
Over 10’000 people visited throughout the day, witnessing ten of Europe’s best skateboard teams battle it out against each other. It wasn’t just the skaters having fun as the weather held out throughout the day, a thronging crowd of spectators and a high level of skateboarding were key ingredients for the success of this unique event.
Only the best European teams were invited to the competition in the heart of London. Along with the athletic challenge creative craftsmanship was requested as well. All the teams were invited to design and build an original and demanding obstacle to be inserted in the course. The rich history, the lifestyle and London’s legendary stories were the inspiration for the designs.
The incredible obstacles from Cliché, Superdead and Death Skateboards were selected in recognition of their inspired and creative designs. They were brought to life and installed in Old Spitalfields Market and the neighboring Brushfield Street to be skated for one day only.
The Best Pro winner was Danny Brady making him the “Ripper of the Day”. Winning the Best Am was 17-year old Nassim Guammaz from the Netherlands. The best teams were Antiz with Hugo Liard (FRA), Sam Partaix (FRA), Dallas Rockvam (USA) and Samu Karvonen (FIN), followed by Element Europe and Enjoi.
Nice! great event!