Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Inside Red Bull Bowl Rippers: why it is no ordinary skate contest
Olympic medallists, established pros and the next generation of skateboarding talent headed back to Marseille as Red Bull Bowl Rippers returned to the legendary Prado Bowl for its 2026 edition.
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Red Bull Bowl Rippers returned to Marseille's legendary Prado Bowl, bringing some of the world's best skateboarders together for three days of speed, style and progression at one of the sport's most iconic venues.
From August 27-30, 2026, Olympic medallists, established pros and rising talents battled it out in the unique jam-session format that's helped make Red Bull Bowl Rippers one of skateboarding's most exciting events. Here's everything you need to know about the competition, its history and the riders that have excelled.
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What is Red Bull Bowl Rippers?
Yurin Fujii goes big at Prado Bowl
© Nicolas Jacquemin/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Bowl Rippers is an international bowl skateboarding contest held at Marseille's legendary Prado Bowl. The event combines individual runs with an action-packed jam session format designed to reward creativity, amplitude, style and risk-taking.
Over the years, the contest has attracted some of the world's most accomplished bowl riders to the south of France, becoming a key date on the international transition-skating calendar.
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How does the competition work?
A packed crowd surrounds Marseille's iconic skatepark
© Nicolas Jacquemin/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Bowl Rippers uses a unique format that combines individual runs with a high-energy jam session.
Riders first take on a 45-second solo run before moving into the contest's signature jam session, which accounts for 80 percent of the final score. Unlike a traditional competition where riders take turns one by one, the jam session puts multiple skaters in the bowl at the same time, creating a faster-paced and less predictable contest.
As five and then six riders share the bowl, the pace increases and competitors are encouraged to link tricks, use different sections of the park and stand out from the rest of the field. Judges score riders based on their use of the bowl, technical difficulty, risk-taking, amplitude and style.
The combination of solo runs and multi-rider jam sessions gives riders multiple ways to stand out, whether through technical tricks, creative lines or high-risk moves.
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Why is Prado Bowl so iconic?
The Prado Bowl, Marseille
© Teddy Mollerec
Long before Red Bull Bowl Rippers was created, the Prado Bowl had already earned legendary status. Opened in 1991, the bowl helped put Marseille on the global skateboarding map and quickly became a must-visit destination for riders travelling through Europe. For decades, professional skateboarders made annual pilgrimages to the French seaside city to ride its unique terrain and experience Marseille's one-of-a-kind skate culture.
The bowl was designed by local skateboarder and architecture student Jean-Pierre Collinet, who envisioned a park built around flow, speed and continuous lines. More than 30 years later, those design principles still define the riding experience and continue to attract the world's best.
Prado Bowl's influence extends beyond competition, too. Its history was explored in the documentary Back to the Bowl, which looked at three decades of skateboarding at one of Europe's most celebrated skate spots.
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A brief history of Red Bull Bowl Rippers
Danny León tears up the original Red Bull Bowl Rippers in 2016
© Teddy Morellec/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Bowl Rippers was launched in 2016 as part of the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Prado Bowl.
French rider Robin Bolian claimed victory at the inaugural event, before Spain's Jaime Mateu emerged as one of the contest's defining competitors with victories in both 2017 and 2019. The event continued to evolve in 2018 with the introduction of a women's competition, won by Brazil's Yndiara Asp. In 2020, a special audience-free edition was held with a European-only field, where Marseille local Jean Pantaleo took a memorable home victory, which you can watch below.
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Marseille local Jean Pantaleo wins at Bowl Du Prado
Watch highlights of Jean Pantaleo winning and much more skate action from Red Bull Bowl Rippers 2020.
When Red Bull Bowl Rippers returned in 2023, Danny León secured his first Marseille win, while Bryce Wettstein topped the women's podium. Now, the event returns for a seventh edition in 2026, continuing a tradition that has brought generations of bowl skaters to the shores of the Mediterranean. From Robin Bolian's inaugural victory in 2016 to the most recent edition in 2023, every chapter has helped shape the event's legacy.
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Riders that featured in the 2026 edition
Yndiara Asp is another former champ that returned in 2026
© Teddy Morellec/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Bowl Rippers 2026 brought together a stacked field featuring Olympic champions, former winners and some of the most exciting names in transition skating.
This included Australia's Keegan Palmer, the two-time Olympic champion whose speed, consistency and ability to deliver under pressure make him a threat in any bowl. Spain's Danny León also returned to Marseille after claiming his first Bowl Rippers title in 2023, while Italy's Ivan Federico was one of the most experienced and dynamic transition skaters in the field.
On the women's side, all eyes were on defending champion Bryce Wettstein alongside Olympic champion Sakura Yosozumi, inaugural women's winner Yndiara Asp and Sky Brown, one of skateboarding's most exciting talents.
However, it was none of the names above that triumphed. Instead, two new names were added to the list of champions as American Tom Schaar triumphed in the men’s competition and rising French star Nana Taboulet claimed victory in the women’s event.
Men's final result
- Tom Schaar (USA) — 94.7pts
- Kieran Woolley (AUS) — 90.3
- Danny León (ESP) — 89.3
- Tom Martin (FRA) — 86
- Gavin Bottger (USA) — 81.3
- Hampus Winberg (SWE) — 80.3
Women's final result
- Nana Taboulet (FRA) — 82.3pts
- Mizuho Hasegawa (JPN) — 80.7
- Ruby Lilley (USA) — 78.7
- Bryce Ava Wettstein (USA) — 77
- Minna Stess (USA) — 75.3
- Emilie Alexandre (FRA) — 73.7
Key riders in detail
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Red Bull Bowl Rippers 2026: inside the Marseille showdown
Take a look at what went down at the seventh edition of Red Bull Bowl Rippers in the video below:
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