11 thoughts on “FLAT ARK 2015 “SEMIFINAL” – Martti Kuoppa VS Jean William Prevost

  1. There is no way martti won, those judges must have been paid off. Seemed like the contest was a charity event for martti. It’s a a damn shame that the flatland community doesn’t speak up. This guy just beat the worlds top pro riders with one new trick and a few old busted up combos. $40,000 dirty money, hope you can sleep at night .

  2. Watching this again, Dub had it.

    They way Dub dropped those last 2 combos..I thought it was close till he dropped those with ease…They should have nailed it.
    And difficulty. Alot of people are playing with stem stuff… Who is out there trying the forklift…? not in my lifetime

  3. I am still having a hard time thinking WHAT THE JUDGES WERE REALLY CONSIDERING in order to give it to Martti though!
    Not taking anything from Martti that even coming from retirement is still proving that evolution is what he is all about ,but really winning such a Championship with only 3 or 4 new tricks compared to THE FLURRY OF HIGH SPEED SWITCHES,ROLLING PEDAL TURBINE TRICKS and SO ON… Come on!!! Judges were out of their minds on that decision for sure.

  4. This is a closer battle than some of you may realize, and there are definitely things going on in the riding itself during this battle that make the judges’ decision totally justifiable. If someone needs me to explain it, then they likely aren’t paying enough attention to flatland while they’re riding it. Yes, Dub killed it, but whether it’s your thing or not, so did Martti. And btw, I’m a huge fan of Dub’s riding, and if it really was a clear cut case of him getting robbed, I’d be calling b.s. the same as other commenters, but that wasn’t the case.
    Oh, and another thing… yeah, more and more riders are fking with stem tricks now, but remember who set that trend off: dude that won this battle. Make the connection.

    • Now I’m not sure about the stem trend originator. Beckman, Fortenot, the colorado hulk. The old debate of who did it first. Its a concept just twisted in different paths by individuals. Original to none.

  5. death truck glide on the pedals rolling at high speeds isnt original or stylish enough? and all those pivots and style isnt original? not blaming the boss im blaming the judges i hope they all sleep every night thinking with their delusional decisions.

    • Dub killed it, no question, which is why I’m sure the judging was insanely tight. But in terms of originality (and throwing stylish out as a consideration as it’s way too dependent on individual taste), yes, things like Dub’s death truck/inside junkyard lines are original among all the riders linking heavily around turbines, but almost the whole field of competitors were doing turbine links. If originality is a measure of one rider against all his competitors, isn’t the more original rider someone who is doing stuff as far away removed from the other contestants as possible? Say you distilled all the turbine-centric riders down to just the tricks they are doing, without all of the pumping and turbines included… are any of those tricks as difficult as doing a hang 5 while standing on your stem and using your heel to control the read end of the bike? These kinds of things are just a few of the considerations good, observant judges need to make a call on, and why this battle was actually very close and not the blow out a few people think it should’ve been. If anything, we shouldn’t be blaming the judges for anything… we should just be thankful we weren’t in their position.

      • A stem 5, vs the forklift… ?
        Both moves evenly original, I would think. (I’m no history buff)
        In terms of difficulty I think one outways the other. That is why I pointed out, people are trying the stem stuff, not saying not difficult, But seems do-able and Done by some.
        The difficulty of the forklift and some of those jump scuffles switch pivot things Dub drops. There’s some mega commitment in those moves. And he has them on lock. And dropped them under pressure when it counted, effortlessly.
        Judges Calls are final and I respect that, tough job and all. Specially on this one. And you can see on there faces how they all felt it was tight. Dubs the man doing good things now for flatland, MK did it in the past.
        I feel some older riders get a few extra points before taking the stage, in regards to what they have done in the past or there “legend” status among peers.

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