For more than ten years the ONE Blade Awards have served as annual measure of the progress and accomplishments from the worldwide inline community. What started as a “Hey, what if we tried this?” has turned into a long-running and oft-replicated ritual serving to galvanize our memories while inviting valuable discussion amongst bladers everywhere.
During the past twelve months skating continued to diversify and decentralize itself as new faces, names, scenes, and ways of rolling became more mainstream within our culture. Every flavor of blading is available with a few search terms or hashtags on the socials, letting people find the exact type of skating they want to see. It’s a golden age for finding your inspiration and sticking with it.
It’s also a time when Mel Magazine is noting how much fun we’re having, and even The Guardian discovered the world’s discarded inline skates that have seemingly all ended up in Nairobi — but many of us could have already guessed that because we’ve gotten to know Danial Ogbogu. Watching his progress and the development of the local scene in Lagos this past year has been incredible! We can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
But right now it’s about 2019 — and celebrating the people, brands, locations and events that made the largest impact on the most bladers. And while year-to-year some of these names may show their popularity and staying power with their continued presence, it’s much more fascinating to see what new entries emerge to challenge the long running status quo within our sport.
Of course that is possible because the ONE Blade Awards are powered by our readers. These results represent your voice. Here at the end of 2019 you have nominated your favorites, which were whittled down to the Top 3 in each category, and then you all voted to determine these final results.
And when said and done, once again the worldwide blade community came together to establish a set of standards to be observed and surpassed. These awards represent the voice of the people and the vision of what they expect blading to be.
Each of these Finalists represents the best that blading has to offer, and we offer our most sincere congratulations to each and every nominee, finalist, winner, and of course every single blader that made this process possible.
Now, please give a round of Likes, Shares and Heart emojis for your 2019 ONE Blade Award Winners…
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[PEOPLE]
BLADER OF THE YEAR
Joe Atkinson (47%)
Runners Up:
Yuto Goto (29%)
Montre Livingston (24%)
BREAKOUT BLADER OF THE YEAR
Yuto Goto (61%)
Runners Up:
Ren Fujiwara (23%)
Marius Gaile (16%)
HONORARY CHRIS EDWARDS AWARD
FOR MOST POSITIVE BLADE INFLUENCER
Jon Julio (45%)
Runners Up:
Montre Livingston (30%)
Brian Freeman (25%)
[EVENTS]
BEST EVENT OF THE YEAR
Winterclash (55%)
Runners Up:
Blading Cup (26%)
What Year Is It? (19%)
BEST CONTEST PERFORMANCE (BLADER)
Joe Atkinson (58%)
Runners Up:
CJ Wellsmore (23%)
Montre Livingston (19%)
BEST NEW EVENT
What Year Is It (57%)
Runners Up:
Filthy Fiesta (23%)
Queen City Kings (20%)
MOST HOSPITABLE VENUE
Area 51 (48%)
Runners Up:
Woodward (31%)
City of Santa Ana (21%)
[INDUSTRY]
BRAND OF THE YEAR
Them Skates (58%)
Runners Up:
Roces (22%)
USD (20%)
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Sola Equipment Frames (51%)
Runners Up:
USD Aeon (34%)
Oysi Medium Frame (15%)
BLADE SHOP OF THE YEAR
Intuition Skateshop (43%)
Runners Up:
Loco Skates (40%)
Oak City (17%)
ANGRY YOUTH AWARD FOR BEST MARKETING
Them Skates (60%)
Runners Up:
Roces (25%)
Konjure Brand (15%)
[MEDIA]
BEST EDIT OF THE YEAR (BLADER)
Alex Broskow “Ellos” (46%)
Runners Up:
Yuto Goto “Pro Edit” (33%)
Marc Moreno “Revolta” (21%)
BLADE VIDEOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Dom West (47%)
Runners Up:
Mike Torres (32%)
Jonas Hanssons (21%)
BLADE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Dominik Wagner (52%)
Runners Up:
Adam Kola (33%)
Sean Macgowan (16%)
BLADE VOICE OF THE YEAR
Jump Street Podcast (53%)
Runners Up:
Ricardo Lino (29%)
Jon Julio (18%)
As we head into 2020, no one knows what is in store for rollerblading. But if the past is any indication, then we can rest easy knowing that the people listed above, those nominated for awards, and even names that many of us have never heard before, will step up and help drive rollerblading ever forward — reinventing the combined sum of our history into something bold and exciting.
We can’t wait to see.
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Photos taken from Instagram, Facebook, ONE print issues, Adam Kola, HGR Media, and oneblademag.com. Thanks to all.
You should do a best of the decade poll.