NEA
Awards
Brian 'Irie Man' stepped out of the ocean in early August just long enough to make some serious waves on stage at the first annual nea Awards (new extreme sports Awards). The event honoured great personalities and outstanding performances of world class athletes in different extreme and fun sports. The Awards also celebrated the individual lifestyles of extreme sports.
The nea awards are an annual cross-media event that honors world class performances in ten categories of extreme sports. The August 8 event took place during the world's biggest sports trade show, ISPO in Munich, Germany and brought together some 90 of the world's top extreme sports athletes
Still, the athletes showed in outrageous attire, reinforcing the extreme element of their profession. While Hawaiian shirts were the main order of the day, fur coats, screaming pink hair and plastic pants grabbed the most attention as the athletes glowed in the shimmer of the spotlight..
Surfing star Kelly Slater summed the feelings of many, remarking the world had been waiting for an event like this for many, many years and now everybody took the chance to finally unleash all the energy they had been saving up.
Former MTV hosts Simone Angel and Ed Leigh ran the show live in English and the event contained a mix of award presentations, video trailers, other presentations and live music performances. Super-star athlete Dennis Rodman made a guest stage appearance, fitting right in with this band of extreme athletes. Perhaps he has found his niche.
About 1000 fans crowded the scene, craning to see or shout to their favorite extreme athletes.
The winning windsurfers were:
Best female windsurfer: Iballa Ruano Moreno
Best male windsurfer: Francisco Goya
Best newcomer: Andy Wolff
Lifetime achievement: Robby Naish
The other categories were surf, wakeboard, snowboard, skateboard, freeski, mountain bike, motox, BMX and aggressive inline skating.
| Stepping out of character momentarily, the athletes arrived in stretch limos and strode into an "Oscar"-like setting with a red carpet welcome, a spectacular ballroom and massive stage set up. |
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Each sport had celebrity couple presenters and Brian presented in the category of 'Aggressive Inline Skating'. He shared the stage with German actress Judith Kernke, who played a role in a German television soap about windsurfers. The show, which had some likeness to "Baywatch", was called "Gegen den Wind" (Against the Wind), and was about a group of windsurfers on an island in northern Germany.
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 Brian did not miss the chance to engage in his favorite activity of 'making sport', and his stage antics had the audience in laughter throughout his presentation.
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Brian and Judith Kernke share the stage and present to winners Sven Boekhorst NED (best male), Jenny Logue UK (best female), and Anthony Mackie UK (best newcomer). |
 Brian hugs Iballa Ruano Moreno, winner of the Best female windsurfer award. |
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Last Revised: Sunday, Sept 17, 2000
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