—–English/英文—–

Skatehere: How do you think this year’s Red Bull competition went compared to last year’s competition?

Eric: This year’s course was even better. Last year, the course was built on a birdge over the water, and a lot of skaters’ boards dropped into the lake. This year, they changed it up for the better.

Skatehere: This year there were a lot of dope tricks and lines, this year as a judge was it hard to decide?

Eric: The last 8 were really hard to decide. Near the end Chun Chai and Adee’s run were pretty hard to judge, because they were so tired at then end, they didn’t land many tricks. This is definitely what makes judging a skate contest hard.

Skatehere: Which trick during the contest got you the most hyped?

Eric: Xiao Ji’s backside 360 flip. Definitely the first time anyone has ever landed that trick in a contest in China.

Skatehere: Did you think this year’s contest format was fair to the skaters?

Eric: Pairing up and getting selected who to skate against for the 1 v 1 elimination definitely depends on your luck. As long as the pairing up wasn’t pre-determined, I think the contest was pretty fair. It would also be better if they made the rules of the contest known to everyone much earlier to prevent any discrepancies during the contest.

Skatehere: Skateboarding doesn’t have strict rules like other sports, and choosing a winner has many different things to take into account like style, difficulty of tricks, success rate, speed, and trick selection. With that said, what do you think would be the most ideal skateboarding contest format?

Eric: I think a jam contest is actually the most fair. It’s much less stressful than 1 dude on the course, you can showcase your skills better and do harder tricks. If it’s just one guy on the course with 1 minute to skate, it’s so much harder to bust out difficult tricks. If it was a three minute jam session, I feel like everyone would try much harder tricks during the contest.

ZZY

张子扬

Skatehere: 你觉得这年的红牛比赛跟去年的比赛比起来这么样？有那些区别呢？去年的道具更好玩还是今年的？

ZZY: 感觉挺好的 这里聚集了大部分中国最厉害的滑板人一起滑板 特别喜欢这种感觉。场地设计不一样以外 去年比两天今年一天比完。我觉得今年道具更好玩 但是细节上并没有太大的突破 地面很软 表面很滑 滑快了抓不住地让我感觉很不爽。

Skatehere: 你觉得比赛那一天最困难的挑战是什么？

ZZY: 1对1吧 把哥们儿当成竞争的对手 这种比赛形式很难让我完全沉静在自己脚下 比赛我更想赢了自己 在比赛的时间里完成自己想要做的动作。

Skatehere: 你觉得这年比赛format对滑手公平吗？

ZZY: 不公平 他们告诉我他们用了足球世界杯的规则 却在一天内比完了！！！

Skatehere: 你比赛之前状态这么样？比赛之前那一天有什么专门的准备吗？

ZZY: 状态挺好的，准备肯定要做的 滑板 和鞋我都会选择平时感觉最好的装备 还有背包里肯定会有一块蜡和Vans Tee。

Skatehere: 你最后一个PK离开场地了，我以为你受了伤，能解释一下发生了什么情况吗？

ZZY: 对 受伤了 受了内伤 哈哈，最后我们4人进了争夺前三的机会 但谁也没有告诉我这并没有到决赛 一天内我们顶着三十几度的太阳比了五次 我用尽了全部力气在最后争夺前三的final 但最后他们告诉我你还要去比 但你只能去比第三？！wtf？！ 这是足球世界杯的规则！！！惊了 无所谓了 我真的没有感觉滑完他们所说的足球世界杯规则。

—-English/英文——

Skatehere: How do you think this year’s Red Bull competition went compared to last year’s competition? Was last year’s course more fun or this year’s?

ZZY: I thought it was pretty good. They brought together a majority of China’s gnarliest skaters to skate together, and I really like the vibe. Besides the course itself being completely different, last year we had to compete for two days, but this year it was one day. I thought this year’s course was more fun, but there wasn’t any obstacles that were too crazy. The surface was pretty soft and flexible, and really slippery, when you skate fast there’s no traction which I didn’t really like.

Skatehere: What was the biggest struggle for you the day of the contest?

ZZY: Just the 1 v 1 head to head battle. Just having your homies become your competitor. This type of contest makes it hard for my feet to stay still and calm. When I’m competing I do it for myself, I just want to land the tricks I want to land.

Skatehere: Did you think this year’s contest format was fair to the skaters?

ZZY: Nope, they told me they were using the international World cup rules and formatting, and was supposed to finish all in one day!!

Skatehere: How were you feeling before the contest? Did you have any special preparation just for the contest?

ZZY: I was feeling really good, I for sure had to prepare. As for equipment, I always choose the skateboard and shoes I’m most comfortable with. And gotta have some wax in my backpack and a fresh vans tee.

Skatehere: Your last 1 v 1 battle you left in the middle of the run, we all thought you got hurt, can you tell us what went down?

ZZY: Yeah, I got hurt. Got hurt on the inside haha. At the end, four of us had to compete to for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. But noone told me that the run didn’t even count for the finals. Throughout one day, we had to skate 5 runs in 30 (86 F) degree weather. We put our energy into qualifying for the last three spots, but at the end, they told me that I had to compete again, but only for 3rd place?! What the fuck? This is the World cup football rules. I was damn surprised. But now it’s whatever.I really didn’t feel like they were using the World cup football rules to determine the winners after we finished skating.

Interview: Edan Q.

Translation: Andy & Edan Q.