The international skateboarding tournament BRICS Skate Cup by Grand Skate Tour ended in Nizhny Novgorod. TV BRICS was the international media partner of the event.

Egor Kaldikov, Maxim Ezhov, Dmitry Dvoinishnikov, Semyon Kutuzov and Yakov Kan represented Russia in the final competition.

This year’s strongest male competitor was Martin Atanasov from Bulgaria, who won the Wild Card to participate in the tournament as the winner of last year’s Grand Skate Tour 2023 in Moscow. The second place went to Matias Dell Olio of Argentina, while the third place went to Egor Kaldikov.

Among women, the first place went to Russian Rada Tereshchenko. Silver and bronze went to her compatriots Tatiana Styrova and Lilia Sukhankova.

“We recognise this event as a stepping stone to the ongoing dialogue and cooperation of current and future BRICS members through Grand Skate Tour’s model which we have refined over the past 4 years. Using countries that are developed in skateboarding as a springboard to inspire other countries ministries of sport, tourism and culture to view skateboarding as a recognisable and sustainable investment, socially and in terms of infrastructure development. The Russian Skateboarding Federation has proven what can be achieved by governing bodies acting in tandem with their local communities and this acts as a blueprint for nations that wish to reap the same rewards, building and supporting a healthy ecosystem of youth sport and culture,” said Simon David Paton, Director of International Development of Grand Skate Tour, in an exclusive commentary to TV BRICS.

In conjunction with the BRICS Skate Cup by Grand Skate Tour competition, a series of lectures and seminars for foreign guests took place at the Terminal A Centre for Contemporary Art from 6 to 9 June. There were also photo exhibitions, film premieres, masterclasses and ramp competitions at the Horadrome sports complex.

“Athletes from 23 countries participated in the BRICS Skate Cup by Grand Skate Tour events, and nowadays it is not so easy, but skateboarding works wonders. I would like to say a special thank you to the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region. In 2019 we held a big tournament here for the first time, the European Championship. And now they promise us that BRICS Skate Cup can become an annual event. I got emotions from skating and from the result, including the fact that we are on the threshold of such arrangements,” commented Ilya Vdovin, President of the Russian Skateboarding Federation.

This year’s Grand Skate Tour in Nizhny Novgorod gathered participants from more than 20 countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and others.

Photo: BRICS Skate Cup by Grand Skate Tour / Augusto Akio