Email  Print

Gold Medal Performance

Most people who go to Las Vegas hope to win big. Twenty two-year-old Jerome Moseley of Evans did. And he did it on roller skates while carrying a tray of burgers and fries.

Moseley recently won the first-place gold medal in the Dr. Pepper Sonic Games So You Think You Can Skate nationwide competition held in Las Vegas. He received the award after being selected with five other finalists from video entries submitted by some of the more than 3,500 Sonic Drive-In restaurants across the country. A self-taught skater, he honed his skills practicing in an open parking area behind the Evans restaurant where he works as assistant manager.

The competition, presented by Dr. Pepper, Sonic and RC Sports, features a timed obstacle skate course where finalists race while carrying food and drinks on a tray. In addition, there is a freestyle performance dance portion of the event where skaters groove to routines they create. In the car hop category, Moseley skated through doors, picked up trash, answered trivia questions and rolled under a limbo stick while balancing a tray of food. In the freestyle segment, judged by RC Sports Team Vanilla who invented the competition, he was rated on skill, difficulty and creativity of his break-skate exhibition where skaters break dance to a song of their choice.

After winning, Moseley sent a text message from his phone while he was still onstage to his grandmother in Atlanta. “Before I even got off the stage, she was calling me and I had a whole crowd of people congratulating me.”

All six finalists were given an all-expense paid trip to Vegas where they were treated to shows by the Blue Man group and comedian Sinbad and had breakfast with Sonic’s CEO. For Moseley, the highlight of the trip was skating down Las Vegas Boulevard early in the evening. “We actually drew a crowd while we were just out there doing our thing on the sidewalk. We wondered if we threw a hat out—we would probably get tips left and right,” laughs Moseley.

The Harlem High School graduate’s goals don’t end with skating for Sonic either. “I actually want to be a partner in Sonic...I think it’s a great company. They treat me like family and I think they’re family to me by now.”

This is one time what happened in Vegas did not stay in Vegas. And that's just fine with Jerome Moseley.