Once upon a time your humble narrator skated in an “Old Man” event at a Superhick where the cutoff age was 25. Ha! How time flies. Now, in 2024, the cutoff for the more respectfully titled “Veteran’s Cup” is 40 years old. And in a year when the pro finals didn’t even get to unfold due to rain, the fact that the 40 and up crowd skated the course as well as they did only added to the weekend’s excitement — and further cemented the legacy of these die-hard bladers. Let’s take a look at the action…

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Chris Edwards: The man was on fire. As someone that has seen Chris’ skating up close at various times in his career over the past 20 years, he hasn’t skated this well for a crowd in a minute — and everyone was so stoked. With excitement in the air, Chris put on his one-man Demo and reminded everyone just how inspiring blading can be regardless of the technicality or “core-ness” of your tricks. Rock on, Chris.

Mike French: It’s possible Mike French landed as many or more tricks than anyone else on the Blading Cup course. And some were crazy to see in person, like his disaster scissor-kick top soul that left everyone in our vicinity speechless. It looked like sure death! But Mike had his game locked up tight and proceeded to remind everyone how he and his brother earned their blading credentials.

Jeremy Townsend: The PacWest OG showed up with the Feinberg contingency and a few tricks up his sleeve. As a full-sized man blader it was great to see Jeremy throw himself around on the tight Blading Cup obstacles, where he found some cool moves and showed that he’s a wild card on the course every time.

Scott Crawford: All the way from Australia, OG-triple-OG Scott Crawford was back again and on his grind. Catching lofty fakie airs as only he can on the big quarter and finding a line across the dumpster, Scott was surprised to make the finals but still managed to kill it. It’s always inspiring to watch him on his skates.

Jeff Stockwell: Out from behind the camera shutter, Jeff Stockwell showed he’s never lost his touch and even laid down a TTS on the bank to dumpster. Some will say the backside backslide is more technical, and sure, it is, but seeing Jeff drop his shoulder and roll his hips into the TTS was like going back in time about 20 years. Good stuff.

Randy Spizer: Rollerblading’s most immortal Peter Pan is Randy Spizer and 2024 was another demonstration of his seeming unwillingness to age or lose his thirst for tough tricks. And sure enough Randy was the first person to launch to grind on the gap to rail and the first to handle the A-frame to rail transfer. Say what you want about aging and the youth of tomorrow, but sometimes it takes a wise wizard to truly test the limits.

Billy O’Neill: Veteran’s Champ and what we’d maybe consider a questionable entry since he’s still an active professional blader, Billy O’Neill skated as you’d expect and did some cool tricks on the course. We heard through the grapevine that he decided to enter the Veteran’s Cup event because the entry cost was cheaper. That’s business owner thinking for ya.

So there you have it — the best pics our team captured during the Veteran’s Cup. Coming up next… the women’s events!

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Photos by Drew Humphrey and Steve Steinmetz