For the Love of Skateboarding
Welcome to another SLS Games, a very serious competition. This is a two team, three versus three competition, where skill and passion are put to the test through four rounds. Each round is worth a 2 second (total of 6 seconds up for grabs) head start which applies to the final round.
Team P-ROD: Paul Rodriguez, Na-Kel Smith, Manny Santiago
Team MALTO: Sean Malto, Curren Caples, Dashawn Jordan
Welcome to another SLS Games, a very serious competition. This is a two team, three versus three competition, where skill and passion are put to the test through four rounds. Each round is worth a 2 second (total of 6 seconds up for grabs) head start which applies to the final round.
Team P-ROD: Paul Rodriguez, Na-Kel Smith, Manny Santiago
Team MALTO: Sean Malto, Curren Caples, Dashawn Jordan
Skateboarder Manny Santiago is going to the Olympics. That’s right; skateboarding is making its Olympic debut at the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan, where Manny Santiago will be representing his birth country of Puerto Rico. Manny first stepped on a skateboard in Lowell, Massachusetts, where his momentum drove him to pro stardom in 2010 and hasn’t stopped since. With a decade’s worth of pro status and a competitive career that roots back even further, it’s safe to say Manny knows his way around a competition arena. Now, residing in the mecca of skateboarding in California, Manny has found a lifestyle that keeps his health in tiptop shape, continues to make skateboarding fun and proceeds to evolve his bag of tricks to stay on par with the best. Follow Manny along in the video above as he shows us his early morning skate routine, healthy eating and recovery practices, social life at home, and more.
Welcome to another SLS Games, a very serious competition. This is a two team, three versus three competition, where skill and passion are put to the test through four rounds. Each round is worth a 2 second (total of 6 seconds up for grabs) head start which applies to the final round.
Team P-ROD: Paul Rodriguez, Na-Kel Smith, Manny Santiago
Team MALTO: Sean Malto, Curren Caples, Dashawn Jordan
Welcome to another SLS Games, a very serious competition. This is a two team, three versus three competition, where skill and passion are put to the test through four rounds. Each round is worth a 2 second (total of 6 seconds up for grabs) head start which applies to the final round.
Round One: DECATHLON
Round Two: THE STAIR DOWN
Round Three: THE GAME OF O.U.T.
Final: THE RELAY
Team P-ROD: Paul Rodriguez, Na-Kel Smith, Manny Santiago
Team MALTO: Sean Malto, Curren Caples, Dashawn Jordan
Watch them go head to head in a Decathlon and stay tuned for Round Two dropping next week!
Huston had four different scores break into the 9-point range, which made him nearly impossible to beat. After landing an incredible first run he one-upped himself by finishing his line with a half-cab to backside smith grind to backside 180 out of the 11-stair hubba to shock everyone.
Huston followed it up in the individual trick section on the same 11-stair hubba stomping a half-cab backside noseblunt to fakie, a switch heelflip frontside tailslide, and finally a switch heelflip frontside 5-0 to earn the highest score of the event, a 9.56.
“It’s a sick time for skateboarding, and I can’t wait to get [to the Olympics]” said Huston, 5-time World, and previous Dew Tour champion, looking forward to becoming an Olympian. When asked about the adjustments he made to win on the day, Huston responded, “I tried to give myself to room with the points… to give myself less pressure to land my final trick. I hadn’t landed the switch heelflip frontside 5-0 yet in practice, and never on anything that big.”
Men’s Street Final Results:
1. Nyjah Huston
2. Yuto Horigome
3. Aurelien Giraud
4. Jamie Foy
5. Vincent Milou
6. Felipe Gustavo
7. Manny Santiago
8. Shane O’Neill
Dew Tour Des Moines delivered a heated 32-skater Men’s Street Semifinal despite rain delays. The day wrapped with Manny Santiago, Aurelien Giraud, and Yuto Horigome leaving semis on fire and leading the group of eight qualified for the final.
The best 21 skaters from qualifying met the top 11 World Skate ranked pre-seeded for an abbreviated semifinal format of two, 45-second runs with the best score counting. Each of the three heats felt like international finals of their own.
Manny Santiago, 35, came out blazing for Puerto Rico as the oldest skater in the contest. His first run fired everyone up and gave him the top score, but he bested himself on his second run and burnt the place down.
1. Manny Santiago
2. Aurelien Giraud
3. Yuto Horigome
4. Vincent Milou
5. Jamie Foy
6. Nyjah Huston
7. Shane O’Neill
8. Felipe Gustavo
In one of the best nail-biting finishes in X Games history, 18-year-old Nyjah Huston stomped the last attempt of the entire comp to edge past Paul Rodriguez for gold at SLS X Games Barcelona 2013. But there was much more than a suspenseful ending at SLS in Barecelona. From adding to Street League’s coveted 9 Club to insane skating from the likes of Chris Cole, Torey Pudwill, Sean Malto, Manny Santiago and more, SLS Barcelona was one for for the books.
Today we’re talking with Manny Santiago about his amazing California part and what it took too film it.
Nigel Alexander heads over to Manny Santiago’s for a day in the life and backyard park session.
Featuring Zach Doelling, Manny Santiago, Dude at Westchester who died on the board slide, Tommy Sandoval, Will Owens, Craig Edwards, Christopher Heitt, Spencer Semien, Orlando Garcia, Cody Hiell, Donny Dixson, Cole Perera, Nigel Alexander, Kenny Martes, Cali Kids and Victor Garcia.
With the World Tour on hold, SLS is taking a step out of the arena for an informal event with a twist. The format is familiar, the rules are loose, the skaters are hand picked, and the location is private, as Nyjah Huston opens up his private skatepark for 10 of the world’s best skaters to go head-to-head for unregulated glory in becoming the first SLS Unsanctioned Champion. THE SKATERS: Paul Rodriguez, Ishod Wair, Torey Pudwill, Jamie Foy, Dashawn Jordan, Felipe Gustavo, Carlos Ribeiro, Manny Santiago, Kelvin Hoefler and Matt Berger. THE JUDGES: Nyjah Huston, Leticia Bufoni and Kelly Hart