Eastern European Championship 2012
The final, fourth round of the Eastern European Championship took place in Moscow (Tushino). We were completely unlucky with the weather: it was very cold. The athletes warmed up in a hangar and bundled up as best they could. The weather also affected the runs: because of the cold asphalt the pace was lower than usual. The last participants also had to ride their freestyle after dark, which IMHO caused some inconvenience for the athletes. The first thing worth noting is Janis's comeback (recall that Janis crashed very badly at round 1 in St. Petersburg and missed rounds 2 and 3; the video is in the corresponding article). Judging by his run, Janis has fully recovered and deservedly took first place – well done! The PRT team and the guys from Belarus were at a high level, as always. We won't dwell on round 4; instead let's sum up the whole season. The results of round 4 are below:
- Janis (Yancis) Rozitis (Latvia, Riga, Stuntfighters.lv team)
- Virgis Zukauskas (Lithuania, Alytus, Stuntriding.lt team)
- Yuri (Red Bull) Verkhovnikov (Russia, Moscow, PRT team)
- Yuri (Yurban) Shabovta (Belarus, Minsk, FSB team)
- Nikita (NiKiTos) Podolya (Belarus, Minsk, FSB team)
- Marat (Marik) Kankadze (Russia, Moscow, PRT team)
- Vitaly (Vetal) Pasevich (Belarus, Minsk, FSB team)
- Alexey (AK-47) Kalinin (Russia, St. Petersburg, Horlie team)
- Alexander (Winnetou) Andreev (Russia, Moscow, StuntArt team)
- Grigory (Unicorn) Taldykin (Russia, Moscow, Huge Happy Family team)
Season summary:
Yuri Verkhovnikov – 1st place – beautiful and well deserved.
He competed in all rounds, won one and made the podium in the rest. He always rode difficult and varied routines. Congratulations!
Yuri Shabovta – 2nd place – consistently high quality.
He competed in all rounds. Yuri is probably the most consistent rider. He has a decent arsenal of tricks and performs them very well. Consistency is a sign of mastery!
Nikita Podolya – 3rd place – varied and emotional.
He competed in all rounds. Nikita progressed from round to round, constantly adding new tricks. He has a very large arsenal of tricks and decent execution quality. Third place is an excellent result for the youngest athlete!
Congratulations to the winners, and thanks for taking part, for the stunt riding and the dedication!
In conclusion, many worthy riders took part in the Championship, but none of them managed to compete in all rounds, and some of them could have given the podium finishers real competition. Of course, for the championship to gain sporting suspense, the organizers need to make sure riders come to all rounds. Given the international line-up, that is certainly difficult. For now the competition is more of a show. Competition is essential for the development of the sport and of each athlete individually. I'm sure that if Janis, Virgis and Arunas had taken part in all rounds, we would have seen more interesting freestyle from all participants.