Shaun White
Recap: X Games, Day 3
Article courtesy of Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
visit: http://www.latimes.com/sports/extreme/
9:23 p.m. — The premise is to slide down a 60-foot ramp on a skateboard, then jump a 50-foot gap onto a 20-foot rail. The challenge is to land on the other side of that rail, and then to continue up a 27-foot quarterpipe and perform a trick.
No problem, right?
Wrong. The challenge proved nearly too much for the six men competing in the skateboard big air rail jam, Saturday’s last X-Games event. In a 30-minute jam format, the skaters went through a total of 63 runs, and landed just 10. That means the skaters failed to clear the rail in 53 of their attempts. Pierre-Luc Gagnon, the gold medalist in the vert and best trick events, did not land a single run. Neither did Jake Brown, who stopped after his eighth attempt.
Bob Burnquist landed three times, and his third landing — on his seventh run — won him the gold medal. While on the rail, Burnquist switched his feet on his board, turning 180 degrees on the skateboard for a trick called the “switch-stand.” The feat earned him a score of 94.00.
Silver medalist Rob Lorifice landed just twice. On his eighth run, he performed a simple grab off of the vertical ramp, but the trick’s style and cleanliness gave him a score of 92.66.
Elliot Sloan earned the bronze medal with his only landing, which he turned into a skateboard grab high in the air for an 80.66.
Fourth-place finisher Adam Taylor landed the most runs, four, but did not earn a score above 80.00.
– Laura Myers
8:17 p.m. — Everyone was a winner at super rally — or at least it seemed that way.
Tanner Foust won an X Games gold medal and spun out dangerously close to silver medalist Brian Deegan. Third place Samuel Hubinette joined in and Stephen Verdier wasn’t far behind.
Foust continued to destroy the course in his second gold medal win on Saturday. The rally car race champion knocked over barriers and sent dust in the air at L.A. Coliseum with the other three riders.
Before Foust separated himself, the riders were side by side in the tight track. Deegan would use the closeness to his advantage when he bumped Hubinette and slid into second place for his second silver medal of the day.
The four riders advanced from a field of 15, who performed in three heats. The three winners advanced and the three second-place finishers competed in a last-chance run. They were joined by the third-place performer with the best time.
– DeAntae Prince
7:17 p.m. — In his first run of the BMX big air finals, Chad Kagy performed a back flip-tailwhip across a 50-foot gap, then followed that with another tailwhip, spinning his bicycle underneath him while in the air. The trick became the one to beat in the competition, but Kagy’s 91.66 score held up through three more runs.
Steve McCann took silver in the event with a double front flip followed by a double tailwhip — turning his bike underneath him twice — for a score of 89.33.
Rookie Andy Buckworth won the bronze after performing a double front flip across the gap and a flip plus 180-degree turn.
Fifth-place finisher Morgan Wade attempted what would have been the night’s biggest trick, but was unable to convert in his four runs. Wade crossed the gap with a no-hands back flip in each run, and then attempted a triple-tailwhip off of the vertical ramp. He nearly landed it but ultimately came up shor; no rider has ever landed the triple-tailwhip at the X-Games.
Kevin Robinson, the 2006, 2007 and 2009 Big Air gold medalist, dislocated his left shoulder in his second round and did not return. Robinson also dislocated his shoulder twice on Friday in the BMX Vert finals.
– Laura Myers
6:33 p.m. — It wasn’t the most riveting finish, but Tanner Foust won an X Games gold medal in rally car racing.
Brian Deegan and Foust faced off in the final of rally car racing and the red flag suddenly went up. The drivers came to a halt and it was announced Deegan went off course and was disqualified.
Deegan took silver in the competition and was shown hitting himself in the head on television.
He shouldn’t have beat himself up so much. He wasn’t the first in competition to go off course.
The race’s parameters at L.A. Coliseum were not well-defined and confused many riders. Travis Pastrana, another notable rider, crashed while trying to catch Deegan in the semifinals and others had miscues during laps.
Bronze is based on the quickest time of the semifinal losers and hasn’t been determined.
Riders in rally car start on different portions of a designed dirt driving course and race for the shortest time. The contest began at 12 and was chopped down to Foust after a couple levels of competition.
– DeAntae Prince
3:21 p.m. — Ryan Sheckler scored a 92.66 on his last run to take the lead and win X Games gold in skateboard street.
He beat out Nyjah Huston, who scored 91.33 for his second consecutive silver medal. Ryan Decenzo took bronze with a first run score of 90 in his first X Games on the podium.
Just before Sheckler’s final attempt, Huston set the bar at 91.33 to beat Sheckler’s previous score of 90.33.
Sheckler returned to win gold after a 2008 win in skateboard street and a 2009 where an ankle injury caused him to end his run in X Games.
Chaz Ortiz challenged for the lead as well, but couldn’t get past his falls. He was tripped up on an incline between tricks three times. He finished in fourth with a respectable 89.66.
— DeAntae Prince
1:56 p.m. — Motocross rider Paris Rosen suffered a Grade Two concussion, a contusion of his right lung, a mild liver laceration as well as injuries to his rib cartilage and left hip.
This was the word from an X Games official on Saturday afternoon, one day after the 29-year-old rider from Apple Valley, Minn., was injured in a serious accident during the best trick competition at Staples Center.
Rosen hit the ground, landing hard on his back after attempting a front flip in the event He was motionless for close to 10 minutes on the course and needed to be taken off on a stretcher, quieting the stunned crowd.
— Lisa Dillman
1:05 p.m. — BMX rider Daniel Dhers wants to go back to a more classic park course, where the newest tricks are more important than the newest obstacles. But his peers prefer the X-games keep its layouts fresh.
“You’ve got to step your game up,” Gary Young told Dhers after the BMX freestyle park finals. “Well, I guess you won.
“
Dhers took the gold medal with a score of 79 in Saturday’s first X-games event. Dennis Enarson won the silver medal with a score of 76, and Young got the bronze with a 69.
Enarson initally did not even qualify for the finals; he finished 11th in the elimination round, but found out he would compete in the finals on Friday after qualifier Rob Darden had to withdraw because of injury.
“Someone’s misfortune, someone’s fortune, you know,” Enarson said. “I’d rather he not get hurt than me get silver.”
— Laura Myers
12 p.m. — With most of the elimination rounds done, Day 3 of the X Games will see a lot of the big awards given away.
Saturday morning’s bmx freestyle park is currently underway and will be followed by the skateboard street final on the Event Deck at L.A. Live.
Saturday’s events then shift to the Los Angeles Coliseum, where winners of rally car racing, super-rally, bmx freestyle big air and skateboard big air will be decided.
Many winners were decided Friday night, including skateboard vert and best trick, both of which went to Pierre-Luc Gagon.
— DeAntae Prince
For more: http://www.latimes.com/sports/extreme/
