Riga's Gailitis wins skateboard slalom contest in Japan
Latvian skateboarder Gustavs Gailitis won both the line slalom and hybrid slalom at the Flash Slalom Contest in Japan. The season ends in Paraguay in October, where this year's world champions will be decided.
Gustavs Gailitis, a skateboarder from Riga and the reigning world champion in both skateboard slalom disciplines, has won the international "Flash slalom contest" in Japan. The event took place in Hachioji, a city in the western part of the Tokyo metropolis. The Latvian was the fastest in both the line slalom and the hybrid slalom.
Bad weather forced changes to the competition programme, but both disciplines were still held in full. In total, 30 skateboard slalom specialists took part.
Japanese rivals on the podium
Ryusei Nishitani of Japan took second place in both disciplines, and fellow Japanese skater Sojiro Tsukamoto finished third. Both already have world championship experience. Nishitani placed sixth at last year's world championships in Brazil. In both disciplines, Gailitis beat them by 0.3 seconds.
What comes next
The international skateboard slalom season will end in Asuncion, Paraguay. There, as part of the World Roller Games, this year's world champions will be determined from 15 to 17 October.
