Thus far in our countdown to June’s WST Rome World Cup which kicks off the 2025 season of the World Skateboarding Tour, we’ve looked at how Rome has become a fixed star on the skateboarding contest circuit over the years and how the World Skateboarding Ranking operates.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the upcoming contests in the Italian capital themselves, as the World Skateboarding Tour continues post-Paris and toward LA28.

Rolling Ranking Kicks In!

Our 18-month rolling window for results means that the monthly World Skateboard Ranking changes not just with every event which enters the window but also with each that leaves.

What that means, is that the deck has been shuffled- not just since the Paris Olympics, but since the 2024 World Championships last September.

What Are The Latest Ups and Downs On The WSR Leaderboard?

Let’s take a look at some of the risers and fallers on the World Skateboarding Ranking going into 2025.

Street

One of the biggest changes we have seen has been 2022 Street World Champion Aurelien Giraud dropping all the way down to 39th position on the WSR, meaning he is now remarkably only the 3rd-highest-ranked Frenchman in his field.

Also slipping out of the limelight is Nyjah Huston, who’s last outing on the WST prior to the Paris Olympic Games was an off-brand 29th place at OQS Budapest.

Headed in the other direction is Sweden’s Kristoffer Kroon, bouncing up into 16th place courtesy of a very respectable 5th position his first-ever finals showing at WST Rome World Championship 2024 last time we were in Italy for the World Skate Games.

Also worth looking out for despite having a comparatively static World Skateboarding Ranking in Men's Street is Japan's Yukito Aoki, who despite having a solid if not stellar Road To Paris fell foul of Japan's national quota cut and is someone who will have noticed how compatriot Toa Sasaki's 2024 World Champion crown was won off the back of Olympic disappointment for him, too. Worthy of a stealth note, he may just surprise his teammates at this time of asking.

Women’s Street sees Olympic gold medallist Coco Yoshizawa rocket up the rankings not due to her Olympic win (Olympic Games results do not impact on the WSR) but instead courtesy of her 1st at OQS Budapest and then her astute decision to enter the 2024 World Championship straight after (where she got 4th) to take advantage of that World Championship point weighting.

Be honest, 18 months ago nobody would have thought Coco would have been the top-ranked Japanese skateboarder in her division, but it just goes to show what consistency can achieve.

Japan certainly seem to have another quota headache looming down the line, with 9 skateboarders currently in the top 30.

Clinging to a top 30 position is Colombia’s Jazmin Alvarez in 26th, who followers of the WST will remember blew her knee out in practice for the Olympic Games itself. We are told Jazmin’s rehab is sufficient for her to return to the fray for WST Rome World Cup, and we look forward to seeing her should that prove to be the case.

Park

Early news here is that the withdrawal of pre-seeded Australian Kieran Woolley (7th)- who is not yet back to match fitness after injury- leaves the door open for Spain’s Danny Leon (8th) to take that seed and be sure he will run with it.

Breaking into the top 10 for the first time is Sweden’s Hampus Winberg who is on a real surge right now and will look to improve on his 6th position at last year’s World Championship and climb further into that safety zone. Based upon his performance then, a position north of 6th is absolutely within his reach.

At the top of the leaderboard in Women’s Park, a very interesting challenge has arisen whereby the perennial podium fixture Kokona Hiraki lies close to 12000 points adrift of leader Arisa Trew- but with a sting in the tail. The last event in both skaters’ ranking windows was WST Dubai, where the then-dominant Hiraki came 2nd and an only-emerging Trew came 4th.

That means that all things being equal at WST Rome 2024, Kokona’s score will drop 11,100 points relative to Arisa’s, such being the point difference between 2nd and 4th place in that tier of event. So in order to reach the top of the WSR, Kokona not only needs to do well (and she alwys does), but she needs Arisa to do badly. Possible? Yes. Likely? No.

Just outside the top 10 and knocking on the door is France’s Nana Taboulet who managed to rip a 30,000- sized chunk of points off the 2024 World Championship in Ostia by making the finals for the first time, a feat she shared with Great Britain’s Lilly Strachan who likewise leapfrog-ed teammate Lola Tambling into places 15th and 16th respectively. Expect those two Brits to be in competition with each other as well as the rest of the field, because they are neck-and-neck talent-wise, but in two very distinctive ways!

Rule Changes for 2025!

Now of course, all the above drama played out in event formats where- by let’s say early 2023- everybody had figured out where the opportunities and challenges lay.

2025’s rule changes for both Park (the introduction of a Golden Run with first wall rebate) and Street (reduction of Best Trick chances, extra Run in finals, removal of ability to scratch sketchy makes by X-ing them out to the judges) threaten to throw all that cumulative experience out the window going into a new season as everyone gets to grips with new realities and possibilities.

It is all very, very exciting.

How could it not be?

The World Skateboarding Tour continues: join us!