Official 2026 Kardo World Series Skateboarding headliners: Leo Lee (China), Jean-Marc Johannes (South Africa), and Deniel Cramer (Germany).
Before heading to Barcelona to skate this August, an email landed in his inbox around noon, delivering a direct invitation to headline the 2026 Kardo World Series finals in Russia this September.
After grinding through a tough online qualification route in 2023 as the only African competitor, South African street skater Jean-Marc Johannes headlines the 2026 Kardo World Series finals in Russia. He will step straight onto the main stage as a global headliner alongside Germany’s Deniel Cramer and China’s Leo Lee.
"Getting a headliner spot is something I’ll never take for granted," Johannes said. "In 2023, I was winging it and learning on the spot. Now, I know exactly what is going down. If I go there and hold back, I'm not going to see any positive results."
Three years later, the dynamic has flipped entirely. Johannes is no longer an underdog grinding through preliminary heats; he is one of three global headliners holding a golden ticket straight to the final round. Skipping the qualifiers is a double-edged sword. Without the warm-up heats, there are no throwaway runs to shake off pre-contest nerves or gauge the course under pressure.
