2012 ELEMENT MAKE IT COUNT EUROPEAN FINALS - INTERNATIONAL SKATE CONTEST

2012 Make it Count International Contest Series
1st- Simon Stricker from Switzerland
2nd- Shajen Willems from the Netherlands
3rd- Bruno Senra from Portugal

Sony Xperia Wildcard Winner:
Rasmus Salcin from Sweden

Berlin, July 6, 2012 -- The Make it Count event series is an amateur contest format created by Element and hosted around the world to seek new talent, bring progress to skateboarding, and spread the message of social and global awareness.

It's where over 15,000 attendees come together annually, through their mutual passion and shared goal of simply wanting to make it count.

This year, the series was bigger than ever. 24 contestants from 24 different countries competed in the finals at Europe's largest board sports trade show Bright in Berlin Germany, in the hopes of winning a ticket to the global finals this August in California.

At 35〫Celsius and 100% humidity the heat was on --in the air and within the competition. But alas, after two intense zones, we had a winner: Simon Stricker from Switzerland won the all-expenses paid trip to the MIC Global Finals at the Element YMCA Skate Camp, plus a full-year sponsorship from Skullcandy! Stricker and second and third place winners Shajen Wilems from Holland and Bruno Senra from Portugal also received custom-made Skullcandy x Make it Count Aviator headphones, along with some great Dakine goodies.

But the real surprise came after the announcement of the three winners: not only did sponsorship partner Sony Xperia top off the whole awards ceremony by giving each and every contestant a top of the range Sony Xperia S handset mobile phone, they also decided to send a second competitor to the Global Finals! Element team riders and MIC judges Levi Brown, Nick Garcia, Evan Smith, Boo Johnson, Madars Apse and Michael Mackrodt couldn't have been happier about the surprise turn of events, as they were indecisive as to who really was the best. Congrats to Rasmus Salcin of Sweden for winning the wildcard prize. Both Salcin and Stricker will be joining fellow MIC competitors from around the world for a week in California, in order to compete for a full Element sponsorship, skate the Berrics and redeem Make it Count's actual top prize: an experience of a lifetime...