By Omar Waheed, Des Moines Register
The Dew Tour returns to downtown Des Moines this month at Lauridsen Skatepark, giving skateboarding fans a look at Olympic-level talent as athletes compete in the Mountain Dew-sponsored annual competition.
How to watch the Dew Tour in Des Moines
Brian Powers/The Register
The Dew Tour is free and open to the public. It will take place 3-10 p.m. July 29 and 2-10 p.m. July 30 at the skatepark, the nation’s largest, at 901 Second Ave.
There also will be street courses adjacent to the skate park. Parts of Second Avenue will be closed to traffic between Park Street, School Street and Crocker Street to make way for them.
Events will begin 4 p.m. July 29 with the Women’s Adaptive Street Final. The first day will end with the Women’s Park Final and the Men’s Street Final. The second day will reverse the two, capping off with the Women’s Street Final and Men’s Park Final.
A full schedule of events can be found at dewtour.com.
For those who cannot make it to the Dew Tour in person, livestreams of the events will be available on nearly a dozen links at dewtour.com.
Where to park for the Dew Tour in Des Moines
Limited parking is available just south of the skatepark at River Walk Park off Second Avenue. More parking is available north of the skatepark on Illinois Street and West River Drive. Both streets can be reached from I-235 by taking the Second Avenue exit north to University Avenue.
Who’s competing at the Dew Tour 2022?
Brian Powers/The Register
The Dew Tour will feature 35 male and female skaters from around the world, including 16 podium athletes from the 2020 Olympic skateboard competition, which was held in summer 2021 in Tokyo after a COVID-19 pandemic delay. The initial Dew Tour in Des Moines in May 2021 served as a qualifier for the Games.
Notable skaters this year include Americans Cory Juneau, Jagger Eaton, Nyjah Huston, Mariah Duran, Sean Malto, Jordyn Barratt and Evan Strong; Keegan Palmer of Australia; Sakura Yosozumi and Momiji Nishiya of Japan; Sky Brown of the United Kingdom; Rayssa Leal of Brazil; Lizzie Armanto of Finland; and Aurelien Giraud of France.
Battle of the Shops returns on July 30
The Battle of the Shops returns at 5 p.m. July 30 with two amateur boarders apiece representing five Midwest-based skate shops on a street course. Shops compete for cash prizes and to be crowned as the top skate shop in the region.
Representing Des Moines’ Subsect Skateshop, 309 E. Walnut St., will be Jacob Kelley, 19, and Mirza Jasarobic, 24, both of Des Moines.
“We’re stoked we’re thought of as like one of those key shops in the Midwest. We’re friends with all the other shops that are involved, but we’ve been around for 25 years,” said Subsect owner Kevin Jones, 44. “I always put those people ahead of us. To be on that same list of all the other shops that are coming makes you feel good — like you’re doing something right.”
Dew Tour Experience
Fans will have the opportunity not only to watch the competition but attend the Dew Tour Experience.
The DTE will give fans a chance to attend meet-and-greet sessions with the athletes and win prizes in various giveaways from sponsors. Food trucks also will be on hand.
Omar Waheed is a staff writer for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at [email protected].
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