<\/p>\n
Nick Day, left, and Isiah Graham, right, compete in a head-to-head elimination round during the Concrete Heats at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein<\/p>\n
mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Cheers roared from the crowd encircling the concrete arena as two skateboarders slammed into each other at top speed. Over and over, throughout the event, riders ate pavement as they navigated the winding course as fast as they could.<\/p>\n
But for every fall, the riders rose again and made their way across the finish line. All that matters was whoever got there first.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a death race,\u201d said local skater Theo Marquez. \u201cIt\u2019s in the word, no rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday marked a first for Miami, a new style of skateboarding competition hosted at El Portal\u2019s Skatebird Miami skate park. At the Miami Red Bull Concrete Heats event, skaters competed for speed rather than being judged on technical performance and style.<\/p>\n
Skateboarders raced on a pump track, a concrete course made up of small hills and turns, first in timed individual qualifying runs and then in one on one bracketed elimination races.<\/p>\n
Alex Sorgente, professional skateboarder and event organizer, stands in front of the pump track as Eduardo Padron skates in the background at the Concrete Heats event at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
The event was created by Red Bull professional skateboarder Alex Sorgente and held on International Go Skateboarding Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis event is all for fun,\u201d Sorgente said. \u201cAt the end everyone is always laughing and smiling when they cross the finish line, no matter if they win or lose\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite the fun atmosphere, Sorgente said, there was some \u201ccarnage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight skaters entered qualifiers. The winner was Sebastian Bradrach, 14, with a qualifying time at 18.89 seconds. He took home $2,000. Camden Mashore finished second and Dillon Brown placed third.<\/p>\n
Sebastian Bradrach, 14, approaches the finish line to win the final run of the Concrete Heats at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
Sorgente, originally from West Palm Beach and now based in San Diego, said Concrete Heats had been in development for years because they needed to find a safe pump track to hold the event. In this case, safe meant a track big enough for two riders to race without bumping into each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t find a venue that was good for it,\u201d he said. \u201cThis pump track is perfect because it\u2019s wide and you can get a lot of speed around the whole course.\u201d<\/p>\n
The head-to-head races are a change from how skateboarders normally compete \u2014 by doing their best tricks. Still, it was hard to resist. Skateboarders were still adding flair to their initial runs, to the cheers of many, but once the bracket races began, the riders\u2019 main focus was on speed.<\/p>\n
Sorgente, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics and won the 2016 World Skateboarding Championship in park, said he wanted a new type of event instead of the usual skateboard competitions focused on tricks. This race, he said, was \u201cno pressure. It\u2019s not like you got to go out and land your hardest run with your hardest tricks, you just got to go out and try to go as fast as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dillon Brown and Theo Marquez race toward the finish line during a head-to-head heat at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026, with Marquez losing his board just before the line. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
Marquez, one of the competitors, said the races were intense. During one of his heats, Marquez lost contact with his board before crossing the finish line. Officials ruled that the board needed to cross with him for the result to count, forcing a restart.<\/p>\n
Because this is such a new style of event, judges weren\u2019t immediately sure how to handle gray areas, but ultimately they decided on a do-over.<\/p>\n
Professional skateboarder Nikolai Pionbo, a judge in the event, said seeing younger skaters stand out was the highlight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt brought the community together,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were little kids having a good time skating. Kids won money. It makes kids want to skate, which is good for Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jax Effs, left, and Rio Falca, right, compete in a head-to-head elimination round during the Concrete Heats at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
After the final race ended, Sorgente said the event surpassed expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m ecstatic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was honestly better than I expected. The racing was top-tier. Guys were going fast, battling each other, passing and stuff. I think everyone had fun too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he hopes this was only the beginning. \u201cLet\u2019s bring it back,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take it around the whole nation. Wherever there\u2019s a pump track, you can come out and do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
See more photos:<\/p>\n
Alex Sorgente, left, professional skateboarder and event organizer, and Zion Wright, right, professional skateboarder, kick off the finals with a run during the Concrete Heats event at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Bastian Bello, 8, competes in qualifying runs for the Concrete Heats event at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Skateboarders skate the pump track between runs during the Concrete Heats at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026, with Camden Mashore followed by Sebastian Bradrach in the foreground. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Rio Falca, 13, competes in qualifying runs for the Concrete Heats event at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Alex Sorgente, left, professional skateboarder and event organizer, and Zion Wright, right, professional skateboarder, kick off the finals with a run during the Concrete Heats event at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Nick Day, left, and Clarence Jean, right, collide during a head-to-head heat at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Bastian Bello, 8, is carried off the pump track after falling in a head-to-head heat at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Spectators react to skaters during a cash-for-tricks competition at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Dillion Brown competes in a head-to-head elimination round during the Concrete Heats at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com
Alex Sorgente, in the foreground, celebrates with winners Camden Mashore, Sebastian Bradrach and Dillon Brown, from left to right, as he sprays champagne during the awards ceremony for the Concrete Heats at SkateBird Miami in Miami, Fla., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. Photo by Marra X. Finkelstein mfinkelstein@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 6:27 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Day, left, and Isiah Graham, right, compete in a head-to-head elimination round during the Concrete Heats at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-320096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}