Micky Papa takes flight in Mississauga as Jackalope delivers its boldest edition yet

Jackalope touched down in Mississauga for its third year at Square One, and this time they went all in on the theme. The newly built 39-metre street course was designed to resemble an airport runway, complete with plane themed obstacles, a baggage carousel and a flight departure board. Part Hot Wheels track, part ice cream truck fever dream — but make it aviation.

Todd Richards and Alex Smith kept the aviation puns flying all night long on commentary, which honestly saved what was otherwise another broadcast plagued with the usual dual-skating technical headaches. At least the jokes landed, even when the stream didn't.

One notable absence: Virginia Beach winner Matias Dell Olio was nowhere to be seen, no official explanation, just a gap in the lineup that left people wondering. Meanwhile, Ryan Decenzo was competing at Jackalope for the first time, representing Canada alongside Micky Papa and many others.

Square One

Jackalope

And in the spirit of the Golden Ticket program, @theskatenomad brought two wildcard riders from his travels around the world, Lofo Nirina from Madagascar and a second rider discovered in South Africa competing in Vert, giving the field something genuinely different from the usual circuit names.

Semis: chaos before the calm

The semifinal format had 12 heats of two riders each, but the logistics didn't go entirely to plan. Dave Jonsson switched heats for no apparent reason, making Javier Cordozo ride solo as if he was giving a demo, and Jon Cosentino was a no-show.

Kudos to Wyatt Hammond and Guillaume Brunelle, both 12 year olds giving one hell of a show to the crowd and making it to finals. Through it all, Ivan Monteiro was the one making everything look easy, finishing as the clear pilot of the semis and setting himself up as the man to beat heading into finals.

Finals: Wyatt goes 5 for 5, Papa goes one better

The top 10 from semis came back for the final and the level was something else. Silas Aagaard-Hagen and Steven Vasquez were simply on fire and Wyatt Hammond put together one of the performances of the day — going 5 for 5 to open and landing 9 tricks across all 3 minutes, only to miss the super finals top 5 by who knows how much, being tied with Silas in 5th. At least he walked away with the MVP award, which kind of felt like a consolation prize.

Lucas Rabelo made a big comeback at Jackalope to claim third place and Ivan Monteiro pushed hard for the win — but Micky Papa had other plans. His switch trick arsenal in the finals was relentless and it was enough to edge out and take the gold. After finishing second in Virginia Beach, the win also handed Papa the overall series lead heading into the next stop.

Justin Behan

Jackalope

Before the night wrapped up, Manny Santiago was recognized as the voice of street skateboarding for Jackalope, receiving a unique Nixon watch engraved with the Jackalope logo. A well-deserved nod to someone who's been part of the fabric of this scene for a long time.