Bucky Lasek emerges triumphant in skate vert final at Pantech Open – Dew Tour 2011
Baltimore-native, Bucky Lasek, walked away with top honours from the final of skate vert contest at the first stop of the Dew Tour 2011, Pantech Open, in Ocean City, Maryland, on Sunday, July 24.
The defending event-champion from California, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, had to settle for runner-up place this year, while the legendary Shaun White, also from California, rounded out the podium after finishing in third place.
The latest win marked the 10th Dew Tour skate vert victory for the 38-year-old Lasek. However, the road to victory was definitely not an easy one due to the tough fight put up by Gagnon and White. It indeed took something extra special from Lasek
to take down the two rampaging skaters and get his hands on victory.
Talking to a reporter after the contest, Lasek said, “Oh man, I'm speechless right now. I guess I just like the pressure. I need something to push me and Pierre killed it. Shaun was ripping. Pedro was on fire. Adam, I've never seen him skate that good. And
it was just go time. I think I just used that and I went off their momentum.”
The 38-year-old Baltimore native remained exceptional throughout the course of the competition and completely dominated the semi-finals and first round of the finals. He made his way confidently into the super-finals to compete against Gagnon, White, Brazil’s
Pedro Barros and California’s Adam Taylor for top honours.
Gagnon, more commonly known as PLG, came up with an outstanding run to score 87.75 early in the final, placing his rivals under immense pressure. Despite outstanding runs from Taylor and Barros, the score remained unbeatable.
Lasek waited till the last run before completely going on a rampage. He threw down a string of technical and stylish tricks, which included a fakie-to-fakie 540 and a McTwist 540, to earn a decisive score of 88.50 and finally removed PLG from the lead.
Still left with one last opportunity to regain the lead, the defending event-champion kicked off his last run full of determination. However, he missed a trick during his run, which ended up sealing the fate of the contest in Lasek’s favour.
The 24-year-old White took third place after finishing with a score of 82.50. The 16-year-old Brazilian sensation, Barros, missed out on the podium after scoring 82.50 and finishing in fourth place. Taylor finished fifth with a score of 77.25.
During the post-contest interview, Lasek found himself at a loss of words to express his joy over collecting a victory, that too in front of his home crowd.
The fans will be treated to another dose of thrilling skate vert contest at the second stop of Dew Tour 2011, Portland Invitational, which would get underway in mid-August.
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