Baltic Games 2009 Report

Tags: baltic games, dominik wagner, felix strosetzki, festival, gdansk, jojo jacobi, nils jansons, piotrek combrzynski, poland, tomek piekarski

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The Baltic Games are an Extreme Sports Festival in Poland Gdansk, which is a nice city next to the Sea. Next to Rollerblading you can find Skateboarding, BMX, FMX and also some more attractions.

The Baltic Games are an Extreme Sports Festival in Poland Gdansk, which is a nice city next to the Sea. Next to Rollerblading you can find Skateboarding, BMX, FMX and also some more attractions. In days where Rollerblading is getting banned from big Extreme Sport Events in the USA, it feels good to see our sport still be part of most of the European Events. And not just being a part of it, but also showing the world that we are worth it being there. The Baltic Games were just another example for that. Welcome to Poland, welcome to the show!

Baltic Games 2009

The crew was Dominik Wagner, Felix Strosetzki as the photographer and me. Because it seemed to be the easiest way, we decided to go by train. Wrong decision, as usual… Overcrowded trains and air condition without air, happy birthday! We arrived on Thursday afternoon to skate the park before the event and for sure to join the official opening party. Calling it an opening party is always good, because people expect less party than at the after party and once it turns out that it is actual a crazy party you give people an excuse to get fucked up. “Come on, it’s the opening party, drink some more and be happy about being together with your friends again.” I must admit that the polish skaters were drinking for a whole week already because of their “Rollfest” which is a one week marathon with a little bit skating and much more partying. Maybe that’s why they were already used to the amount of alcohol and me on the other hand walked home for almost 3 hours, even if they way home was about 20 minutes just straight following the beach.

Friday was the qualification day and after a short night in our bungalows and a quick walk to the sea we went to the event area to hang out, skate and drink Red Bull until we felt worse than worse. The event itself was much bigger than expected and they had everything from a rider’s area to live viewing on a big screen. They filmed with a camera crane and with a remote-controlled helicopter, which I’ve never seen before. The crowd got bigger and bigger and we were surprised how every 5th person there was wearing a Rollerblading brand. Seems like they are doing a great job over there! And so did the Polish competitors! The level was high and we saw some really good runs. But hey, it’s just a qualification, so hurry up and then start drinking again… After the last run we went to the bungalows and when we asked for party, people were telling us “tomorrow is the competition, so we will take it easy and chill at the camping tonight…” Ok with us, but then why do you guys use a bungalow as bar with 2 installed beer bongs and “all you can drink” for less than 5€? The camping party changed into a beach party later and then in the early morning again into a bungalow party with dance floor and around 10 people lying and sitting in each bed. Taking it easy, polish style!

Baltic Games 2009

Dominik Wagner - Ao Topsoul

Good morning, its final day. Final in every case, not just skating wise… But let’s start with the serious part, Rollerblading. Nils Jansons, Tomek Piekarski, Piotrek Combrzynski and Dominik Wagner battled for the crown. Nils was skating super safe and fluid and it’s nice to see him stepping up his game constantly. He’s definitely the one to watch out for and it’s a pleasure to see him skate. But in the end it was, again, Dominik taking the win with his high-speed, safe lines including little stunts here and there. He is not to beat when it comes to competitions like that. The best trick competition was happening at 9 p.m. with floodlight and a couple of thousand people watching and screaming. Since there was around 250€ for the best trick, people started to big right from the beginning and after a while everybody tried to stall the media construction about 2,50 meters on top of the quarter. While the producers up there had to fight against a heart attack it worked out in the end and the crowd enjoyed the show. We were done and ready for the final final. The after party was held in Gdansk’s biggest club, and a rider’s lounge with free drinks made us enjoy ourselves even more and after some beers the dancing started until the club closed down. What up now? Still 3 hours left to catch the train in the morning and falling asleep would mean that we would never get up in time. So, back to the camping and jumping on our bungalow roof until they break… What an end of the weekend. (It wasn’t us, that’s for sure!

Back in the train we felt asleep with a smile on the face. Thank you Poland for an unforgettable weekend. Great times, great memories! See you next year!

- Jojo Jacobi

Photos: Felix Strosetzki

Baltic Games 2009