And that's a wrap - the Best Foot Forward Tour 2024 has come to an end with an exceptional finals weekend after ten incredible tour stops.
Looking back, it's been an unbelievable ride filled with rad skate action, unbeatable vibes, and memories that'll last a lifetime. This year, we've taken the riders to ten of the hottest skate spots across Europe and have seen more than 470 talented skaters from over 25 nations. From stop to stop, fuelling the stoke and pushing the limits.
This skate weekend in Berlin and the Best Foot Forward Finals 2024 were a true skate festival! Here's a recap of what we were up to during the weekend:
Thursday, 29.08.2024 - Kicking things off!
Before the big skate action kicked off on Friday, we had a special treat for everyone who made their way to Berlin: A free backyard concert at The Social Hub Berlin. As the sun set, the backyard transformed into a lively venue where Okfella, Wavybaby, and Jetskian wowed the crowd with their performances. The miniramp was buzzing with skate action, setting the perfect tone for the days ahead.
Friday, 30.08.2024 – Alexa Skateday | Boat Tour | Cash 4 Tricks
Friday started with the Blue Tomato Skateday in front of Alexa shopping centre at Ravelinplatz. Packed with skateboarding courses for more than 80 kids and creative workshops like t-shirt printing and grip tape graffiti, the afternoon was a blast! Everyone loved the relaxed vibes with music, food & drinks.
At the same time, we sent our Best Foot Forward finalists on a sightseeing tour of a different kind: On a specially rented boat, our skaters got to see the sights and also checked out some of the most famous skate spots of the city.
At 5:30 p.m., everyone gathered for the absolute highlight of the day: the Cash 4 Tricks session at the iconic Tempelhof Airport location. A specially built skate obstacle by Mud Crew was waiting for all those who wanted to collect cash from the judges with extraordinary tricks. About 50 skaters created a pure firework of tricks and about 250 spectators enjoyed the atmosphere at Neulich am Flughafen. In the end, we gave away 3,000 € because there were so many sick tricks!
Highlights | Friday
Watch the recap on YouTube:
Saturday, 31.08.2024 – The grand finale!
Saturday was all about the Best Foot Forward Tour Finals: The 26 male and 10 female winners of the tour stops competed against each other for the podium places in front of about 500 spectators in the Skatehalle Berlin. We are still stoked by this incredible level of all riders and the decision was certainly not an easy one for our judges.
In the women's category, 11-year-old Liv Nelemans from the Netherlands claimed first place with a spectacular performance. Julia Plaggenborg, also from the Netherlands, and Laura Zackova from the Czech Republic followed, rounding out an impressive podium.
For the men, it was last year's champion Tijmen Overbeek from the Netherlands who took home the win again, showcasing jaw-dropping tricks that left the audience in awe. Max Berguin from France secured second place, while Sweden’s Koffe Kroon came in third.
Here's what our head judge Stefan Ebner had to say:
“The finals in Berlin, in my opinion, were the toughest and best of all the Best Foot Forward seasons so far. Tijmen Overbeek took the win with flipping into every kind of rail trick and mixing it up with a hurricane on the out-rail and switch 270 lipslide on the big rail. Max Berguin secured second place with his last run including a bigspin fs boardslide on the bump to rail and a nosegrind nollie flip on the big rail. Third place went to Kristoffer "Koffe" Kroon with a perfect run including late shove-it fs boardslide and caballerial bs tailslide on the big rail. In the women's category, 11-year-old Liv Nelemans took the win with a perfect run, managing to maneuver her small body onto a Lipslide on the a-frame rail and a fs boardslide on the big rail as well as including a switch line with sw boardslide on the bump to rail and sw kickflip into a little bank.”
The two winners received the Best Foot Forward Trophy and a prize money of € 1,000 each. In total, € 4,500 in prize money was awarded to the six best riders. As a special highlight, the two winners can look forward to participating in the legendary "Tampa AM Contest" in Florida. Our best male rider Tijmen Overbeek will qualify directly for the Semi-Finals on Sunday while our best female rider Liv Nelemans will go straight to the second qualification round on Saturday. And it gets even better: The top 11 men from the competition are all invited to the Saturday qualifiers of the Tampa AM!
Find the detailed results here.
After the big finals, there was another Cash 4 Tricks session in front of the Skatehalle Berlin, where skaters were competing for their share of the prize money. The evening continued with the prize-giving and an After-Contest Get-Together hosted by The Dudes at Schönwetter Beachbar, where we celebrated the incredible talent and achievements at the Best Foot Forward competition.
Recap video from Finals Day:
Congrats again to all the winners and thank you for your stoke, passion and commitment!
WMN
- Liv Nelemans, Netherlands
- Julia Plaggenborg, Netherlands
- Laura Zackova, Czech Republik
MEN
- Tijmen Overbeek, Netherlands – Winner of Best Foot Forward 2023
- Max Berguin, France
- Kristoffer "Koffe" Kroon, Sweden
Also, a big THANK YOU to our sponsors & partners – without whom our tour would not be possible!
Saturday | Winners & Highlights
You just don't get enough of skateboarding? Check out our story about the top skate brands and skate shoes!
Best Foot Forward is an AM Contest. This means you are not allowed to enter if you have a "Pro Board" or "Pro Shoes" or if you participated in a pro category in an internationally known contest.
