Following its resurgent 2022 season, Street League Skateboarding (SLS) has started to reveal the first details of its 2023 calendar. Earlier this month SLS announced its first two stops in Chicago, USA and Tokyo, JPN. Now, SLS will bring the 2023 Championship Tour to Sydney, NSW's Ken Rosewall Arena on the weekend of 7 October.
For a preview of the next level action that Sydney fans can expect to see later this year, go here.
This marks the first time in SLS' twelve-year history that Australia will host the sport's flagship series. Sydney fans will now be able to watch firsthand as the top male and female skaters in the world - including Tokyo Olympians - compete in premier SLS competition.
Among the elite skaters who will have their eyes on the prize in October is Australia's own Shane O'Neill (Melbourne, VIC). An established SLS Pro and 2016 Super Crown world champion, O'Neill also competed in the Tokyo Olympics and is an X Games medalist.
O'Neill said, "I'm really looking forward to finally have an SLS Championship Tour event in Australia. The skate scene here has been growing so much. It only makes sense to host the world's best street skateboarders. The sports arena environment that SLS brings is unlike anything else in skateboarding."
Established in 2010, SLS is the street skateboarding's first professional organization and is recognized as the sport's preeminent annual competition. Its events take place on custom-built, one-of-a-kind, SLS-certified plazas with the best in the sport competing for the highest stakes. Los Angeles, London and Barcelona are some of the renowned cities that have previously hosted SLS stops. Now Sydney is bringing SLS to Australia for the first time.
New South Wales Minister for Tourism Ben Franklin said securing Australia's inaugural Street League Skateboarding event for Sydney was a major coup for the State.
"Sydney has a global reputation for hosting major international sporting events that capture the world's attention, making it the ideal destination for the nation's first ever Street League Skateboarding Championship event. Street League Skateboarding is one of the fastest growing international sports and we are going to see the best skateboarders in the world performing spectacular tricks that seemingly defy the laws of physics in Sydney this October. It is another fantastic addition to the major sporting event calendar we are building exclusively for Sydney, which is a key pillar of our ambition to make Sydney and NSW the major events capital and premier visitor economy of the Asia Pacific," Mr. Franklin said.
This year's tour will dial up the fan experience with an exciting reimagined competition format featuring the very best of the best in street skateboarding. The next step in the evolution of SLS, this reimagined format will create an immersive and action-packed experience for fans.
In 2023, the SLS competition will be fiercer than ever. A new winner-takes-all structure is sure to raise the stakes, since the first-place skater at each event will now not only earn direct qualification to the next SLS Tour stop final, but will also secure their spot in the 2023 SLS Super Crown as well.
Following his 2022 SLS Super Crown win, Gustavo Ribeiro (Lisbon, Portugal) will be directly entered into the final for the opening stop in Chicago, putting him in prime position to qualify for future 2023 events.
Although O'Neill is eager to hoist the trophy in his home country, and Ribeiro carries the momentum from his Super Crown 2022 win, Olympic champion Yuto Horigome (Tokyo, Japan) looks to reassert his early 2022 dominance where he took trophies home from the opening rounds in Jacksonville and Seattle. Nyjah Huston (Huntington Beach, USA), the winningest skater in SLS history, is poised to return from injury as well and aims to reclaim the Super Crown.
On the female side, Olympic silver medalist Rayssa Leal (Imperatriz, Brazil) skated a perfect 2022 - winning every SLS tour stop capped off by her Super Crown victory. In Sydney, Leal will be competing against the rest of the podium from both the 2022 SLS Super Crown and the Tokyo Olympics: Momiji Nishiya (Osaka, Japan) and Funa Nakayama (Toyama, Japan).
Also, look out for fast-rising Australian star Chloe Covell (Tweed Heads, NSW), a 12-year-old prodigy (and daughter of former NRL player Luke Covell). She took silver at the Street World Championships earlier this month and is the youngest skateboarder to win two X Games gold medals. In addition to eyeing a spot on Australia's Paris 2024 Olympic team, Choe Covell is also primed to battle for a spot in the SLS Super Crown World Championship later this year.
When: Weekend of 7 October, 2023
Where: Ken Rosewall Arena; Sydney NSW
How: On sale information coming soon
In addition, SLS will create multiple opportunities throughout the year for skaters to join the SLS Tour with a lineup of new SLS Select events. With a chance to earn a coveted spot in the SLS Tour Knockout Round for the upcoming event up for grabs, skaters will be invited to compete at several events throughout the year. This expanded qualification pathway creates even more opportunity for aspiring skaters to step up to the next level. Additional info on SLS Select events will be forthcoming.
In 2022, Street League returned to indoor arenas for the first time in two years, which brought back the enhanced excitement and stature SLS introduced to the sport over a decade ago. After stops in Jacksonville, Seattle and Las Vegas, the competition built to the 2022 SLS Super Crown World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, which drew over 11,000 fans across two sold-out days. In addition, more than 14 million viewers worldwide tuned in live for the 2022 Super Crown, and the Men's Final aired live on ESPN in the U.S. All in all, last year's Super Crown was the most-watched street skateboarding event in history outside of the Tokyo Olympics.
For more Street League Skateboarding news, including the Championship Tour updates, broadcast information, and more, go to www.streetleague.com and follow Street League Skateboarding on Instagram and Facebook.
For SLS Sydney 2023 PR assets, including photos and video, go here
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