Scott O’Brien & Alex Jumelin host BMX Cologne – 18/20th July

Exciting news this morning via Scott O’Brien! 18-20th July at the legendary Jugendpark in Koln, Germany! There are quite a few changes this year so read the official press release below! See you there!

It took us a while to figure out how to present Flatland in a fresh way compare to the previous years, when we were using a tent to cover the Flatland area. And what we came up with is very colorful and different indeed. Our Original 80’s Bumper Car arena will be the Flatlanders playground for the weekend. Flatland will now not only be a sporting highlight, but also an optical highlight of the event. As you will notice, the BMX COLOGNE will hold more changes in store. Also new will be the crew in charge of running the event. No other than the uncrowned King MC Mr. Scott O’Brien the mastermind behind Voodoo Jam in the USA and French Flatland legend Alex Jumelin are helping out to meet all participants’ expectations.

Prize Money: 5.000.- EUR

Format:

Qualifying
3:00 Run
*Pro Riders please understand to make the finals you can not copy another riders combos and style. This will be not be acceptable at this contest.

Finals
3:00 Run

Progression Session
The Bonus Round

Objective – Rider is to push himself to do a trick that he has never pulled in a competition before.

1:00 time
• Awarded Points
0 Points – Rider does not pull his trick. Rider pulls easy trick or trick he pulled in qualifying or final run. Rider plays it safe. Judges feel no points should be awarded.
3 Points – Rider Pulls trick difficult that he never pulled in contest before or combinations of tricks never pulled in contest before. Judges feel riders should be awarded these points based on performance or tricks pulled.

6 Points – Rider Pulls trick original and difficult never pulled in contest before. Judges feel rider deserved highest possible bonus points. These are very difficult to receive.

Judges

Alexis Desolneux
Effraim Catlow
Frank Lucas

Website: http://bmxcologne.de/en/

23 thoughts on “Scott O’Brien & Alex Jumelin host BMX Cologne – 18/20th July

  1. What a stage! Some interesting criteria in this contest.
    Hopefully this will make for a progressive comp with new styles and original moves as well as props for a good pulled all round run.
    If Voodoo is anything to go by- it’ll be a banger of a jam brought to Europe.

    Also shout out to Deep / Autum for keeping flat in Cologne up till now.

  2. that’s seems huge!!!!!!!!!! can’t wait to go there

    and the hard rules seem to be a good challenge for the pro riders, that’s gonna be exiting to see what they will bring, specially the copycats

  3. errrrrrr everyone who is riding today has copied someone some where!good riding is whats important…innit

  4. It will be impossible to differentiate more than 40 riders based on this system. However I can identify with the aim of this initiative.

    In my opinion you should create a system with a much wider outcome interval so you can really differentiate the riders and the results can be based solely on the system and your valuation decisions right after the tricks. If you have to consult a lot after the competition, because of similar values for instance, and change results based on your remaining impressions and memories, the usual mistakes will occur and basically there was no point of the judging system.

    Good luck with everything! Originality is what I like the most in flatland, so in 10 years thats the first time I want to return to Cologne. Maybe I will have no chance so I hope there is going to be a live feed at least.

  5. “*Pro Riders please understand to make the finals you can not copy another riders combos and style. This will be not be acceptable at this contest.”

    Ahahaha what is this shit.

  6. Yes, of course Phil, but this is not what I’m talking about. There are quite a few guys that are carbon copies of other riders or their exact combos. Maybe good for the am class and development of your riding and coming up. But not the best for Pro Class.

    I have full confidence in the judges I chose to make this judgment well.

    Trying to push some younger riders to go in their own direction and build on what they have learned. Not to just copy exactly what another rider does.

    You guys are smart enough to understand what I am trying to say here and what I am trying to do.

  7. Since when did freestyle lose it’s freedom? I like the way you do tricks; therefore, I emulate it and do so quite well. I’m free to do this, but I’m not free to go without penalty for doing so in a contest since a predecessor did that combo first. Pushing riders to go in any direction is at odds with freestyle. Coercive freestyle?

    Having full confidence in judges to make such a call without some type of exemplar compromises credible judging even if you want to hold to impartiality.

    Good on you for undeniably working hard to make a great contest. Nevertheless, from my decades in a profession with many legal hoops and obstacles, the statement ” I have complete confidence in the decision making of so and so” is indicative of perhaps not completely thinking through a decision or statement.

    Never heard of such a thing in the 80s, but then again I never heard of a century club and I had both 101 Freestyle Tricks VCR tapes. Craziness.

  8. Yeah but two months out?

    I get what you’re doing and to some extent I agree completely. I just think that trying to direct people’s riding via contest judgements is a pretty heavy precedent.

    Again though, yeah, too many clones.

  9. Reggie
    If you don’t get it, I’m ok with that. I was there in the 80’s and this is not the 80’s of course you know. Why would I worry about what the 80’s had, thats my point here PROGRESSION!

    I have been around for 30 years .I’m confident in my ability to gather a group of talented riders and make well thought out decisions. Some may not work, some work great and stay around for a long time.

    Just trying to push young riders and allow riders the opportunity to push themselves in their own direction.

    Also, I surveyed several top level pro riders on this issue. So together a collective group of very good riders came up with this and the format.

    And Im saying it well before the contest for the riders to prepare.

    And you say freedom, loosing freedom? I see that differently , that is the exact reason why I am stating this. To me your not free if your doing the EXACT same combos. You are free if you take it and add your own touch. Push yourself to limits of freedom.

    The most freedom I have ever enjoyed on my bike is pulling my own combo’s and pushing my friends to do the same. And thats coming from a kid in the 80’s where we all did the same tricks and looked the same.

    Honestly , don’t over think it. Its pretty simple. I guess TJ used the word Clone and thats what Im talking about. Total and absolute copies. Great if you wanna ride AM and get started but if you step up to Pro class at least have your own touch.

  10. Well said Scott. This format sounds awesome! I bet there are a lot of the pro’s who hold back a little in contests just for the consistency factor. This might push some guys to go for some bombs that they wouldn’t normally drop. Can’t wait to watch it!

  11. I think this format is well suited to this event. Small scale comps can do as they do, but at this level it suits. saying that i thought most pro’s at this stage were doing there own thing.
    Imagine this was battle format and you saw 2 guys drop the same shit for 10 minutes. the guys who losing could always say “hey i did that same trick”. this wont happen with this format.

    Its a bit disrepectful to be a comp rider and drop a clone combo right in the originators face.

    The bonus time is a good idea too.

    One question … livefeed?

  12. This to me seem like the older generation, forcing their criteria/opinions on an up and coming younger generation of Flatland riders to undo all their hard work, because a few riders imitate to a certain degree.
    Isn’t this itself is more harmful than a lack of originality etc with this critical “we own flat’ mentality that is rife among some of the older heads!?

  13. Scott – Stoked to see this new format and really looking forward to what it can bring to the contest vibe.

    Seeing more bombs in contests, like Hiro going for it last year in his run at Voodoo Jam give the events a new energy.

  14. I see a certain danger for it to turn into fascism too. Surely, some riders do copy, some riders emulate, and the one that has been straight up original is propably the first guy to ever have done tricks on a bmx.
    BUT

    These rules are way to uncertain to grant as judging guidelines for a contest that wants to act at an international level.

    And here is the reason why I think it is that way: Flatland is not a very big scene, unarguably the judges at their tables usually already know all the big names in the pro-class, no surprise here. But those are usually smaller contest, with fewer attendances, like 10-12 pro riders. But i think there have been up to 40 pro riders once that registered at the bmx worlds, right?

    Now, the judges are not able to memorize every rider by his face, name or even tricks. The Judges would never be able to keep all the rider specific tricks associated with the right riders, so they differentiate.
    Between people they know and people they dont know, simple as that its just in the human nature.
    Now I am not saying that the judges are biased! (the opposite actually, i believe that all the responsible judges know how to do a great job at being unbiased!) but it still leaves room for genuine mistakes!

    When Judge A knows Rider A aswell as Rider B personally, and both Riders are having a similar style and trickrepertoire (same basic runs. e.g runs that build up on steamrollers) I believe that there is the possibility that Rider C would get a way lower score from Judge A even IF he did almost all the same tricks then rider A and B.

    plus, I think it is a weird thing to explain to the spectators that “that trick didnt count, Marti Kouppa did it waaaaaaay back”

    If you are only stating that a rider is supposed to ONLY not copy those people that are present at the contest it gets a little bit easier to explain, sure.

    But Opinions about whose trick is which and why can get extremely warped sometimes.

    I see guys on here stating that it is a little bit harsh judging, I think it is the contrary
    It is very fair judging in its own concept, but I think due to the vague description it leaves room for misinterpretation (misinterpretation that is guided by subconscious associations, ofc….)

    It just worries me to see some guys here that called me copycat in the absurdest ways giving critic to this idea, while I would definetely support it;

    But here is something else to think about: Not every rider feels the need to upload his own tricks into the internet, I myself held back with posting new tricks and switches to spare them for sponsor related videos (If there are any more coming anytime in the future)
    but also have I held back from watching videos to learn new tricks for way over 2 years.

    By these facts it should mean that my new tricks are super dope and original, right? yeah well… I bet there are dozens of guys out there who think that every new trick, they have seen or done in the exact same variation… or close and by these means devaluating your new tricks.

    So, to come to a conclusion: I think it is a great idea, but please, do some more thought-work about the exact judging rules so that nobody gets screwed over. the more you plan in advance, the less crying there will be afterwards 🙂

    p.s: in germany, Those bumper car ranges usually stand at circus fairs and things that every small village celebrates called “Kirmes”
    The usual picture of a Kirmes is a place crowded with drunken village hobos and drunken soccer dads

    I really hope that they design it so well that it doesnt remind anyone of this 🙂

    peace

  15. but of course it comes down to a handful of riders that are even able to build up a contest routine where they dont step down in their combo, that rules out way more original riding in comps then everything else, so i dont know if my concerns are really justified… Just a piece of thought for anyone that is interested 🙂

    also i want to say (as I have not seen it under these comments here) that I think the Progression Session Bonus round is a perfect thing! huge props for including this in a contest!
    (I believe it is only for the finalists?)

  16. Thanks for the explanation of the thought process behind it Scott. Credit to you for putting in the hours to hold an event in the first place, and for trying to improve on standard ways. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the process at the end of the event. I do have a tendency to over analyze….byproduct of my profession.

  17. Okay I think what Scott is getting at is “If you ride like Matthias Dandois, there’s only going to be one Matthias Dandois in the final”.

  18. Kevin
    Yes bonus round is for finalist.

    Also, to respond the your post. Of course everyone is doing some type of trick that others have done and all that. This is not what I am talking about as I explained above.

    I am saying the CLONE. They guy that wants to enter Pro but TOTALLY copies a run and style of another. THE EXACT run of another rider. These judge can see this. They can recognize it.

    See you soon,

    S

  19. alright, well; I have the best feeling that you are getting it all done perfectly!
    Voodoojam has been a blast too! btw, everything good for this year’s <3

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