Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Greg Lutzka Crowned ISF Skateboarding World Champions

Pierre-Luc Gagnon wins vert finals and Greg Lutzka wins park finals at Dew Tour's Skate Open in Boston

Boston – June 26, 2010 – Canadian Pierre-Luc Gagnon, 30, won the skate vert finals and Milwaukee, Wis.-native Greg Lutzka, 25, won the skate park finals on Saturday at the Dew Tour’s Skate Open. The wins also earned Gagnon and Lutzka the title of ISF Skateboarding World Champion in their respective disciplines.

Four of the ten athletes in the skate vert final came up through international qualifiers, including 15-year-old Brazilian Pedro Barros, who made it to the final jam session against vert veterans Sandro Dias, 35, and Andy Macdonald, 36. However it was Gagnon that came out on top of the podium, throwing out a huge 540 over the banked wall, back-to-back flip trick variations and a switch heel flip 360, earning a first-place score of 91.26. Sandro Dias of Brazil came in second with an 89.38 and Boston-born Andy Macdonald rounded out the podium in third with an 87.63.

“It’s great to win the first stop of the Dew Tour and get a lead on points,” said Gagnon. “I also know I have better runs in me. so I feel like I can step it up and still skate better than this the rest of the season.”

The final jam session in skate park came down to three Dew Tour veterans – Ryan Sheckler, Chaz Ortiz and Greg Lutzka – and three newcomers to the Tour – Boston-native Eli Reed, Frenchman Bastien Salabanzi and Sierra Fellers of Whitefish, Mont.

When all was said and done, it was the three veterans that landed on the podium, with Greg Lutzka pulling out his first Dew Tour win since 2007. Lutzka threw out multiple 270 variations – including a front 270 noseblunt down the big rail – to earn the top score of 88.05. Twenty-year-old Ryan Sheckler of San Clemente, Calif., came in second with an 86.30 and Chicago-native Chaz Ortiz, 16, finished third with an 83.35.

“I’ve won a Dew Tour stop before but I’ve never won the overall Dew Cup, so my goal will be to stay consistent up until the Championships in Vegas,” said Lutzka. “There were some new faces out there tonight that raised the level of competition and kept it fresh, so this will be an interesting season.”

In conjunction with the Dew Tour’s Skate Open, the International Skateboarding Federation (ISF) held the Skateboarding World Championships, which included women’s park and vert competitions. Gaby Ponce was named the Women’s Vert World Champion, while Mimi Knoop placed second and Lyn-z Adams Hawkins finished in third. The Women’s Park World Champion honor was given to Leticia Bufoni, with Lacey Baker coming in second and Alexis Sablone rounding out the podium in third.

The two-day skateboarding competition at Boston’s TD Garden is the first of five events on the Dew Tour, and 32,421 fans experienced the Skate Open, ISF Skateboarding World Championships. The Dew Tour will continue on to Chicago for a BMX-only event, moving on to Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City and Las Vegas for competitions featuring skateboarding, BMX and freestyle motocross.

On page 2: The full list of results