Renton Millar and the guys at Mt. Dew killed it in Melbourne on the weekend putting on one of the best competition’s I’ve been to. Over 5,000 people packed the stairs of Fed Square and spilled out in front of the big screen in the main square to watch the day. As you now probably already know, Bjorn Johnston won with Blake Harris coming second and Dane Burman in third. The top six was rounded out by Sam Giles, Pat Dandy and Harry Clark. Bjorn walked away with $6,000 for his efforts – the total prize purse for the event was $20,000. It’s great to see an Australian event putting down some real cash for the riders – Check below for a total run down of who finished where and what they won.
The event was sanctioned by World Cup Skateboarding. The day was judged by Mike Martin, Andrew Curry, Morgan Campbell and WCS official judge and all round good guy, Sasha Steinhorst. I spoke to Renton over email yesterday and here’s what he had to say about the day…
You guys killed it on Saturday! Are you happy with how it all went? Anything that needs to be tweaked for Sydney?
I was super stoked. For me the highlights were seeing the granite on the hubba… The course builders surprised me with that. Also, then seeing everyone throwing down… I think the course was a bit on the gnarly side, so the lads really manned up when their names were called. As far as changes for Sydney, that will be dependent on what course we will go with, but all in all it was a success. That said I am definitely always up for feedback how we can improve the course, format and everything else, but I think everyone was happy.
What was the highlight of the day for you?
Bjorn’s switch smith, Lewis frontside flip over the rail and maybe Blakes back tail on the hubba, Sammy Winter’s fakie 5-0 the out ledge… All insane! Actually a big highlight was seeing half the guys in the final come from the alternate list… That means they weren’t selected for the comp straight away. They were guys that got their spot when another guy pulled out. That impressed me… Shows the depth we have in the talent pool in Aus, and how gnarly some of the newcomers are. Sam Giles and Blake Harris especially. Seeing Bjorn win was great too. He is great to watch.
Sanctioning is not something we see much of in Australian skate contests. How crucial was getting WCS sanctioning for the comp?
I’ve known WCS for about 12 years. Really cool people. I thought it would be hard to get their support but they really helped us out with their endorsement of the comp. I don’t think our comp will be a points comp cause it’s Aussies only though. It’s actually my goal to create a comp that people outside Aus would love to go in, but I wanna create something that will stay Aussies and NZ guys only. Why shouldn’t Australia have the sickest regional only comp in the world?
It takes a lot of support to run an event like this. Who helped you bring it all together?
Mountain Dew are great. They want to support skateboarding. They have given us an amazing opportunity to help skateboarding contests in Australia grow. The biggest idea that drives Dew Battle for Supremacy is that Australian skateboarders and the talent here has grown out of sight… We want to grow the opportunities that these skaters have in Australia, on the contest side of things. I think once people that have been involved with our comp worked out we have some good intentions almost everyone we have come across has helped us along the way. Anthony Mapstone has helped a lot, every skateboarder that has entered the contest has helped us, and crew involved on the day like Toby Heslop, Chris Middlebrook, Steve Gourlay, Andrew Mapstone, Corbin, the TV production team, and all the girls like Penny and Belinda that run the behind the scenes part of it have helped it a lot. I also cant forget Shane Serena and Robbo, who built the course and Sasha Steinhorst, Andrew Currie, Morgan Campbell and Mike Martin, who judged. All in all there are a lot of people involved. Even down to the people that come and watch. Everyone is important, and we appreciate everyone’s support. So thanks!
It was great to see the level of mainstream media interest in the contest and the focus you guys had on bringing Australia skate identities to a wider audience. The contest effectively stood as both a credible event but still managed to be engaging for an audience that might otherwise be uninterested. Did you plan that from the start or do you think the Australian public is becoming more accepting of skateboarding as a sport?
I think skating is accepted a lot more in the public’s eye in Australia than in other places. As far as the mainstream media focus, that’s definitely something that helps, but our main focus starts with the core. Hopefully we can get a lot of that right first, and then what gets projected to the public is legit. Ultimately I would love to create something that is considered great in the eyes of the core skaters, and is appreciated by the public. I would love to be able to help Australian skaters put themselves in a better position to earn good money.
Bjorn took home $6,000 for the win which is a pretty sizable prize for an Australian skate contest. What’s your thoughts on that?
First thing is I need to track down Bjorn to check his passport… I just heard he is actually from New Zealand! Actually that’s cool, its an Aussie/NZ comp. I think its great he earnt six grand. I am stoked to be a part of something that has helped lift the standard of what an Aussie pro skater gets. I am equally stoked to have been able to pay 20th place $100. I think with skateboarding you have to recognize everyone in the comp.
On Saturday morning we spoke about growing Australian prize money to meet the high standard of skating in Australia…
For sure, that’s definitely a good benchmark to get the contest prize money on par with whats happening in the U.S. For us though, we want to grow in a healthy way, keep Mountain Dew as well as the skaters happy, and get better every time. Last year we had one comp. This year we have two. Last year we had $20k prize money and this year we have $40,000 over two contests. Realistically, we are new to throwing contests but I think the crew we are working with have a positive attitude to growing in the right way and doing a better job every time we have an event. It would be great to grow to a ridiculous level overnight, but I think its more important that we do it in a way where its done right, everyone involved is happy, and everyone gets something positive out of it. I feel like we are at a early stage with it, Mountain Dew Battle of Supremacy (and its crew) are still getting to know everyone and the other way round. I’m just keen to grow healthily, so we stick around and we can continue to showcase the sickest contest skating in Australasia!
The next ‘Battle for Supremacy’ is happening in Sydney on February 6th 2010. There’s another $20k up for grabs and it’s sure to be a great day. For more information, hit up dothedew.com.au.
Battle for Supremacy ’09 Results Table
1. Bjorn Johnston $6,000
2. Blake Harris $4,000
3. Dane Burman $3,000
4. Sam Giles $1,800
5. Pat Dandy $1,400
6. Harry Clark $1,000
7. Jack Fardell
8. Lewis Marnell
9. Sammy Winter
10. Shane Azar
11. Dave Harris
12. Jimmy Roche
13. Jeremy Correa
14. Jake Duncombe
15. Marty Girotto
16. Luke Croker
17. Nick Boserio
18. Bryce Golder
19. Kieren Reilly
20. Shane O’Neill
