This weekend Skatepark of Tampa hosted their 30th annual Tampa Pro skateboarding contest. The contest began in 1995 with legendary skater Mike Vallely taking home the very first gold. Last year Japanese skater Yuto Horigome won his first Tampa Pro contest.
This year’s street contest featured a lengthy qualifying round on Saturday. 68 skaters started the day with hopes of making the semi final on Sunday. Only the top 30 were able to make that cut. The top two qualifiers on Saturday actually got to skip that Sunday semi final and were given a “Straight Shot” into the final round. Those top two skaters this year were Matt Berger and Jake Ilardi. Notable skaters this year missing the cut from the qualifying round were Trent McClung, Ivan Federico, and David Loy.
Sunday’s semi final round featured the 28 qualifiers from Saturday that didn’t automatically qualify for the finals as well as previous Tampa Pro winners. Everyone who has ever won Tamp Pro is given a lifetime invite to come back and participate without having to qualify for the semifinals. This year we were given the honor of watching legends like Greg Lutzka and Tony Trujillo skate in the semi final. Overall there were 34 skaters in the semi final this year. That was narrowed down to just 10 skaters. Those 10 skaters were joined by Berger and Ilardi in the finals.
In the finals Yuto Horigome went on a heater and was able to take home the crown of Tampa Pro 2024 winner. He was joined on the podium by Kelvin Hoeffler in second place and Jake Ilardi in third.
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