Gold Cup II

Eddie Elguera

“This was at the Big O. The week leading up to the contest, I had been trying different things over the channel. Dale Smith was working with me at the time. He and I were trying to work out an invert over the channel but I just couldn’t figure it out back then. I did lien airs over it and also pulled a footplant over as well. I’d do a backside air and then plant my foot on the opposite side of the channel… dropping back in. Duane Peters saw me do one and he then did one but went straight across and into the opposite transition. Progression. Coming into the Hester final, I knew that I just needed to qualify. I was the last to skate as I was in the lead. Everyone went and completed their compulsory runs. Duane went right before me. He skated well. I knew that I had to make the top eight and I could win the series. I remember that when it was my turn to go, Steve Alba, Duane and a bunch of their crew were yelling and spitting at me, trying to make me fall. Right before I went, Salba yelled, “You’re going to fall Eddie!“ He was right. I fell. I skated poorly.”

“I had one run left. I knew that I needed to stay on everything. I dropped in. Those guys were yelling at me. I made my line. The last trick was a sweeper from the round onto the peninsula and then I’d ride out of the shallow and end my run. Well, I went to do my sweeper. I missed my tail. I thought, “Oh my…” I simply threw it under me and put it on the line. I recall riding up into the shallow and all those guys that were yelling because they thought I’d blown it…  they were like, “What just happened?” I felt good. I had stayed on it. I made the cut. We are all friends now. We skate together and it is really cool to have all of this history.” - Eddie Elguera

Tony Hawk

“The Gold Cup, at the time, was the biggest event. It was overwhelming. There was a crowd of people entering. I recall that they’d cut the competitors to something like twenty riders. I couldn’t even recall seeing that many guys ever skating. It was pretty heavy. I do remember something that really stood out to me. I recall Teddi Bennett talking to Stacy Peralta. Teddi asked Stacy if he should do a certain trick in his line for qualifiers. Stacy answered something like, “Well, you do what you think you can do. Stay on.” Teddi then answered back, “I think I’ll save that trick for finals.” I was pretty blown away by that comment. Teddi Bennett was absolutely so sure of his skating and abilities, that he knew he would make the cut and be in the finals. I was totally surprised… That was the heaviest thing to me. There was no question in his mind. Amazing. I also recall the compulsory runs. It was a changing of the guard in a way. Some guys were on the way out. Some couldn’t do inverts, which were part of compulsories. It was a strange and overwhelming time.” - Tony Hawk

Christian Hosoi

“Gold Cup. I was twelve years old. It was all new to me. I think that I was going as high or higher than most of the guys out there. I mean, Neil Blender and Dave Andrecht were going pretty high at the time. They did the highest airs. It was a changing of the guard. A new era. The Gold Cup ushered in some serious amateur talent. Basically, Steve Caballero, Eddie Elguera and Duane Peters were already pro. So, the amateurs in Gold Cup were those guys that ended up as Pro’s in the 1980’s. The Gold Cup was my first taste of real competition. I had just started riding vert. I learned to skate vert in the back keyhole at Marina. I had to get used to the adrenalin, the crowd, the banners and the timed runs. Shogo Kubo, Jay Adams and TA basically helped raise me, so it wasn’t so bad. It seemed pretty normal to me. Right place. Right time. I received my first photograph in Skateboarder Magazine that year as well. It was heavy. I was very young. Back then, it was pretty crazy. Gold Cup raised the bar. It was very trick-oriented skateboarding. There were compulsory runs as well. The Hester Series before it, was primarily style, lines, walls, wheelers and power. Some skaters couldn’t keep up with the progression. They were left behind. I thought the compulsories of the Gold Cup were sort-of kooky, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted to skate. We were the amateurs out there doing everything we could. We were trying to prove that we belonged. We always skated the best that we could.” - Christian Hosoi

Thank you to Eddie Elguera, Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi for their time and memories. Thank you to Glen E. Friedman for the images. Skate- Ozzie