Minneapolis X-Games

Last weekend, July 13-15, The X Games were held in Minneapolis.The festivities began on Thursday and continued on Friday, as action sports athletes competed for medals in BMX, Skateboard and Moto X challenges. Arguably the most exciting sport was the BMX Street Final and the Women’s Skateboard Street Final.

The BMX Street Final was heroically won by Garrett Reynolds, whose run scored 89.33, bringing him the gold. Devon Smillie took silver with a score of 87.00. The battle for bronze was much closer, with Simone Barraco taking it with a score of 85.66, just .33 points ahead of Dakota Roche in fourth. This made the action exciting to the last second.

Reynolds has won this competition eight of nine of the times it has been offered, and as usual, his run on Friday was incredible.

The Women’s Skateboard Street final wasn’t quite a blowout. The top scores were all within two to three seconds of one another. Aori Nishimura took the gold medal with a run that scored 87.66. Samarria Brevard was in second, earning her the silver medal with a run of 84.66, a full three points behind Nishimura. In third, Leticia Bufoni took the bronze with an 82.00 flat, two points ahead of Pamela Rosa in fourth.

 The highly anticipated Moto X Step Up Final, BMX Park Final, Skateboard Big Air Final and more took place on Saturday. The BMX Park Final was the first medal win of the day. Kevin Peraza took home the gold, posting a score of 90.33. He was a full three points above Logan Martin, who took silver at 87.33, who narrowly edged out Daniel Sandoval with a score of 87.00 for bronze.

In the Moto X Step Up, Jarryd McNeil posted a height of 44 feet for the gold medal. His only close competition was Bryce Hudson, who took silver with a height of 43 feet. Third place, in a very exciting turn of events, was a three-way tie between Ronnie Renner, Massimo Bianconcini and Libor Podmol all at 39 feet.

In the Skateboard Big Air finals, Elliot Sloan soared like an eagle with a 94.00, ahead of Tom Schaarr who won the silver medal with a 91.66. Clay Kreiner earned bronze with a score of 88.00. In the Skateboard Street Amateurs, Jagger Eaton, Zach Saraceno and Alex Midler took gold, silver and bronze, respectively. Eaton was far, far ahead of the rest though, with a score of 91.66 while Saraceno in second posted a score of 72.00.

The events were a blast to attend. Festival goers enjoyed athlete appearances, vendor booths, and delicious food stands. The air was simply buzzing and the scores from the weekend demonstrate that electricity!