SLS Paris 2026: seven years without London — here's why

On 3 October, the clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier disappears under a concrete plaza. Street League Skateboarding returns to Roland-Garros for a second straight year — and it is the only European stop of the entire 2026 season. Just one. Meanwhile, London has not seen the tour since May 2019. Seven years. We will explain why below. First, what you need to know before 3 October.

Third time in Paris, second time on the clay

SLS Paris 2026 goes down on Saturday 3 October at Stade Roland-Garros, billed as « SLS Paris presented by Winamax ». Tickets are on sale. It is the tour's third visit to Paris and its second edition inside the stadium: in February 2024, Aurélien Giraud won the first Paris stop; in October 2025, SLS laid its obstacles on the clay courts for the first time.

Practical translation: if you want to watch the world's best roll in person this year without boarding a plane, you have one date. One. After Paris the tour heads to Tokyo on 14 November, then Brazil in December. Nothing else in Europe.

Vincent Milou, 36.1 points: the defending champion is home

On 11 October 2025, Bayonne's Vincent Milou won at Roland-Garros with 36.1 points, ahead of Brazil's Giovanni Vianna (34.8) and Japan's Sora Shirai (27.6). In the women's event, Japan's Aoi Uemura took it with 29.8, ahead of Chloe Covell (22.3) and Yumeka Oda (21.1). All six are on the 2026 roster.

And here is the detail nobody brings up: in May 2018, at the last real London stop, Milou finished second behind Yuto Horigome. Eight years later the two meet again on the same plaza — in Paris, with Milou wearing the defending champion's bib.

Two runs, five tricks: the format that allows comebacks

Each skater gets two timed 45-second runs, then five best trick attempts on a single obstacle. Only the four best scores count, each marked out of 10 — a 40-point total. That is why Milou finished on 36.1. A blown run does not knock you out: you can sit fifteenth after both runs and flip the whole thing on your last three best trick attempts.

What is really at stake on 3 October

This is not just another stop on the standings. It is the only window in the year where the world tour comes to roll within train distance. Milou defends a title he won at home; Horigome comes looking for revenge in Paris; and the points here weigh on the season title race. In October the light drops early over the Chatrier: the final plays out under floodlights, in a stadium built for the silence before a serve, now filled with grip scraping concrete.

Seven years without London: the real reason

The facts: London did host SLS twice — May 2018 (Street League Pro Open, won by Yuto Horigome ahead of Vincent Milou) and May 2019 (SLS World Skate, won by Nyjah Huston). Then nothing. The 2026 calendar lines up Los Angeles, Sydney, Rio, Tempe, Paris, Tokyo and one last Brazilian date. No UK city at all.

The answer fits in one sentence: London was a qualifying stop, Paris is a destination. In 2018 SLS had just signed with World Skate to become the official qualifying path to the Tokyo Games. The European stops of that era existed to hand out Olympic points — a calendar obligation, not a scene choice. Once the cycle ended, the obligation vanished, and London with it.

Paris ticks three boxes London no longer has: a 15,000-seat landmark stadium willing to have its courts covered, a local title sponsor paying for the stop (Winamax), and a country where skateboarding stays in the news — two home Olympic medals in 2024, a French SLS defending champion, a team already chasing LA28. SLS has never given an official reason, but the calendar is clear: the tour does not go where the scene is oldest, it goes where the venue, the money and the news line up.

So no, there will be no SLS London 2026. There is an SLS Paris, on 3 October, and that is all the continent gets this year.