Skater of the Year 2024 | Predictions
Words by Sam Goldberg-Jaffe
Ahh, SOTY season. The shops are buzzing with hot takes and strong opinions. Everyone is convinced that their prediction is gospel. Back in my day, you just woke up, and someone was skater of the year. You maybe didn’t even know until it came out in the mag a month later. In 2024, it's a damn presidential campaign. Skaters and brands are strategically planning video parts to build up to December so they can throw their hat in the ring. Does this onslaught of content dumb down skate media for the whole rest of the year, or does SOTY season give modern skaters something exciting to look forward to every Fall? Maybe I'm the Scrooge of SOTY season, but I thought it would be fun to break down some of my favorite parts and top contenders of 2024 to make your voting a little easier. I'm also pretty sure the voting is fake.
Here's my top picks for Thrasher SOTY 2024:
1. Jamie Foy
Foy is a beast, and he came into 2024 swinging. With mind blowing ender parts in Dickies “Honeymoon” video and New Balance intervals, it’s pretty hard to argue with Jamie for 2024 SOTY. He fakie flip crooked a handrail and then had the audacity to fakie crook, flip out. In Intervals he kickflip 50’d a massive kink rail and then grinded a reverse “battleship” rail, somehow coming out with speed. Jamie is the best skater in the world and he proved it with the massive amount of footage he put out in 2024. I also stumbled on him carefully tucking his grandma and family into his Tesla at 1:00 am after the Dickies premier in LA, so they would all make it home safe. He’s a family man too! I could easily stop this article now, because Jamie is gonna win SOTY this year. I'll proceed for the sake of content.
2. Elijah Berle
Elijah Berle is a skater steeped in controversy. People love to hate on Elijah for some reason. Is it because he switched up his style multiple times in his career? Is he a wannabe Dylan Reider? Calm down people, Elijah is one of the best skaters to ever do it, and he seems like a nice guy. Just STFU and watch him grind NBD rails and nosegrind a double kink. Eli won’t win SOTY this year, but he makes me miss the days when this award was about quality, not quantity.
3. Tiago Lemos
Tiago is one of my favorite skaters, so I'm a little biased. For a Josh Kalis stan like me, he’s the evolution of the genre of skating I grew up worshipping. He’s grandfathered into pushing switch mongo, and it works. Tiago’s part in intervals is a masterpiece, set to the sweet musings of Ghostface Killah and Trife. This is the kind of part that gives you the chills. Switch Back Noseblunt, Bay Blocks! That being said, ain't nobody catching up to Foy on this one. Tiago is my SOTY every year, and maybe it will happen one day.
4. Braden Hoban
Braden is way too good at skateboarding. It’s not even fair to be honest. It might not be his fault, but he looks half asleep on massive handrails. Braden deserves the world; he’s a humble and friendly guy who just loves to skate. Watch Braden’s four mind-blowing parts below. This won’t be Braden’s SOTY year in my opinion, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in the next decade. He certainly deserves to be mentioned in the top 5.
5. Momiji Nishaya
Momiji put out a timeless video part this year. The trick and spot selection is impeccable; Japan to Portland and back! Two of my favorites were the Varial Flip into the bank and the sw 270 front board on the rail. Momiji blends tech tricks with an effortless style, and she makes it look too easy. I can’t wait to see her parts for the next decade and hopefully longer.
Part Of The Year: Antonio Durao in "Quickstrike"
At the end of the day, skateboarding is subjective. We like what we like, and that's what's beautiful about it. There’s no rules or judges for video parts, but ourselves. Thrasher is going to make their decision, and the winner lives on in skateboard history as one of the best to ever do it. If you have made it this far check out my pick for Part of The Year, Antonio Durao in Nike SB's "Quickstrick." Until next year...
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