The first year of the QS Cup Presented by Vans went down in Greenpoint, Brooklyn — just steps away from the onetime home of the world famous Autumn Bowl. Sixteen of the world’s best skaters were paired in an eight-race bracket, racing each other around our specially engineered pump track until only one skater was left standing with the trophy.
🎨 Illustration by Cosme Studio
📊 Ballot Count by 4Ply Magazine
The results are in: a time-capsule of 2023 skateboarding, as voted by QS readers. Some old favorites have returned to the rankings, and some new ones have emerged.
And yes, it should be stated, perhaps louder than in other years, that year-end rankings are an imperfect artform. Miles Silvas’ “City To City” part that would eventually land him Thrasher‘s S.O.T.Y. trophy premiered a few hours before voting for the QS Readers Poll closed (that didn’t stop him from getting some votes in those final moments though.) Yuto dropped his April part three days after voting closed. But we are committed to the belief that nobody wants to talk about 2023 after Christmas. And for a year when it felt like Skateboard Oscars Season™ began in August, we had to make the call. All those parts that missed the cutoff will be eligible for next year’s voting, same as years past.
If you are just joining us, this ranking was voted on by QS readers from December 4th to December 8th. If you’re interested in the methodology, 4PLY broke down how we tally the votes ✨
In case you haven’t heard: the Tompkins construction that was set to begin in September, will now begin ~mid-November. The colder the weather, the less of a chance the asphalt will cure soft, or something like that? Any QS Readers work for a paving company?
“Going Once, Going Twice” is a fun Philly-based video by Fionn McLaughlin that’s light on the Muni and heavy on the crust. (Feel like there was another recent-ish homie video that ended with “Dirty Work” as well? Perfect homie video song.)
Mark Humienik, Nico Marti, Alan Bell, Zak Anders + more in Chase Walker’s Minneapolis trip edit from an Asics wear test.
“Every day is Friday when you’re Tyshawn Jones.” Late on this — and it’s not a skate pod obvs — but Tyshawn was on the Throwing Fits podcast a week-and-a-half ago. (That link opens in Spotify, btw. But it’s on Apple Podcasts, too.)
