The FISE, International Festival of Extreme Sports stopped off in Le Havre this weekend of August 26 and 27 on the seafront esplanade. A great opportunity for users of the Le Havre skatepark to compare their exploits with those of sports champions sliding: Bmx, rollerblading, scooter and skateboard
Le Havre has one of the largest outdoor skateparks in Europe, which allows the city to host the best sliding sports competitions. No wonder FISE, the International Extreme Sports Festival, has made it one of his stops on his national tour for a few years. “There are a lot of local riders in Le Havre, and I can say that this city is a place to ride! That’s nice to look at !” enthuses Mattéo Desouche, the coordinator of the FISE Experience tour.
This Sunday was the last day of competitions, with the last qualifying phases or the finals. “We had great days on Friday and Saturday, the public came in large numbers, today we are waiting for the weather to improve to see the riders having fun” continues the young man.
Among the extreme sports in competition, the scooter • © P.Cornily, Francetv
The International Festival of Extreme Sports offers competitions in BMX, rollerblading, skateboarding and scooters. Mattéo Desouche, the coordinator of the FISE Experience tour explains the principle of the competition to us, with his own words, those of the riders. “The riders have a run of 50 seconds each, we work by pool. We classify the riders by category, and then we launch the competition! The rider must try to be fluid in his run, navigate throughout the bowl or the park, it is important to ride everywhere on the modules. The style of each rider also counts, and of course the tricks, which will earn points in their run“.
The events take place on the bowl of Le Havre, inaugurated in 2006, and the ramps of a Freestyle Park, installed for this weekend.
All categories (young people, amateurs, professionals) are represented, girls or boys, French or European. The middle of the ride is very open. You can meet dashing fifties as well as young teenage women. By participating in these competitions, riders earn points that will determine their national ranking.
Le Havre hosted the last stage of the FISE Experience this weekend • © P.Cornily, Francetv
In Le Havre this afternoon, the wind prevented the riders from riding for a good part of the day. So we spoke with a few figures in the discipline, such as Lilian Virazel, a cyclist specializing in BMX, who rides in Elite. “At first I did a bit of scootering, then I discovered BMX in 2013 with some friends. It’s been ten years I joined a club“explains the Montpellier resident.
BMX is everything, adrenaline, sensations in the air, surpassing oneself, learning tricks, all these crazy sensations, that’s why I love BMX.
Lilian Virazel, BMX Freestyle”
“At first I was scared, but past the stage of putting my head down, doing back flips, I gained confidence” continues the rider who does not hide the dangerousness of the discipline. I had two concussions, I had knee and ligament problems…it’s a risky sport, but that’s how it is! It’s a sport under development, for the moment I don’t fully live from it but it will come, I try to evolve at my level. If I manage to make world or European championships that suits me very well, the Olympics we will see !!”.
The wind pinned the pilots to the ground for a good part of the day, and the organizers preferred to postpone part of the events. There is no need to subject the riders to strong gusts, otherwise they will really fly away.
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