Despite the shitty weather forecast, lots of riders showed up at the bowl in Kortrijk. They all gave the best of theirselves, much to the crowd's delight. Local shredder Sander Debaere demonstrated how to ride a bowl and won the amateur contest and got the price for best line. Hannes van Gansen took second place thanks to his stylish riding and lots of cool tricks. Quentin van Ryckevelt ended up being third. Sami Jetati (fifth place) crashed hard trying to backflip the spine and had to be hospitalised. The pro contest was dominated by Premium rider Sig Cools. Sig went higher and faster than everyone else, did the best lines and made it all look so easy thanks to his amazing style. All this and a massive nosedived 36O over the island were enough for Sig to take the win. Second and third place went to two Dutch riders: Nike 6.0's Nicky van der Veen and Daniel Wedemeijer. After being stuck in traffic for ages they arrived halfway the contest. Almost without warming up, these two shredders went nuts.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.