His first run score was obviously going to stand and the crowd wondered if he would take his second at all. But he did skate, and with the pressure off, he played to the crowd, waving his arms during the run keeping the packed bleachers into it. I was just trying to get the crowd pumped up. The third heat provided the most thrilling, and frightening, moment of the round. Twenty-six year old Brazilian Lincoln Ueda was getting the biggest air of any competitor to that point.
High reward carries high risk for vert skateboarders.
He was throwing huge tricks and was nearing the end of his first run when he missed one and landed hard on his neck near the bottom of the transition. He lay motionless at the bottom of the ramp for a few tense moments while medical personnel tended to him. But Ueda got up and was assisted off the ramp, obviously shaken. It was questionable whether he would be able to take his second run. He answered the bell, though, and didn't hold back a bit.