Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Ron Whaley #3.



Ron frontside flips while Marc Johnson watches.

This is from the 1995 PSL Street Championships at the Olympic Velodrome in Carson, California. The contest was held on August 27, 1995. It was sponsored by Grind King and Vans. They staged a qualifying event on August 26 that was sponsored by Grind King and Airwalk. Ron placed 10th in the qualifier and was reward with fifty bucks. Marc placed 9th and was also rewarded with fifty bucks. Willy Santos won the qualifier and took home a grand. Neither Ron or Marc placed in the top ten of the finals. Eric Koston won and received $5,000 for his efforts. Willy got second and two grand. Steve Berra was third and won $1,000.

The sequence is by Grant Brittain.

Transworld - February 1996 Volume 14 Number 2

3 comments:

Rikku Markka said...

Your post illustrates why I do not begrudge pros today who skate contests, and take winning seriously. Fifty bucks for 10th place? I think Street League gives guys 1K just for showing up. And a contest win today can get you as much as 100K. I don't see it as selling out. Why not try and win that money?

Nonickname said...

Is that a Zero Sophisto banner (head) in the background?

Chris Senn had the same attitude back then. You enter to win so he wouldn't try flip in stuff he may land but focused on fast stuff he knew he had dialed in and made sure he was the guy who stayed on his board his entire run.

Justin said...

It could be a Zero Sophisto banner. It might not be. I'll check to see if there are any better photos.

Also with $50 as a prize option, I get why some pros don't care about contests. You can make more than that selling lightly used gear in the parking lot.