The X-Games were founded in 1995 and first held on Rhode Island. They have been a great success ever since with events such as skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, BMX, rally/motor cross and my personal favorite, surfing. All the X-Games are a blast to watch. Students seeing their favorite athletes of the games, like Shaun White or Frank April, is a great inspiration.
This year’s winter X-Games were kicked off in Aspen, Colorado with ski, snowboard, and snow mobile. With only four days in Aspen, so many events and wins. Shaun White won his sixth straight super pipe gold. “Six, that’s a lot. That’s a big number,” White talks of is win, “I’m going to be even more uncomfortable next year going for seventh. It’s a humbling title to hold. I’m proud of what I have done.” With scores of 98 and 85, White had the two highest scores of the night. Very impressive but not as much as s 2012 winter X-Games perfect score of 100. Shaun white is truly amazing and respected by all athletes and fans.
On February 9th was the women’s ASP world championship tour final. I was extremely excited to see my all-time favorite surfer, Sally Fitzgibbons, take home the gold! After this sod win for Roxy team rider Sally she moves onto Hunter Ports Women’s Classic which is part of Newcastle’s surfest. And then she takes on the Roxy Pro gold Coast on March 2. The men’s ASP was February 10th, at which Owen Wright shatters the competition and gets the gold! The semifinals were a bit rocky for him; he eased by his win with a last ride score of 5.58 with 9.98 seconds left. During the finals though he wasted no time with a final score of 15 points he takes first place!The ASP World Champion tour rankings are: Joel Parkinson with 58,700 total score, Kelly Slater with 55,450, Mick Fanning with 47,000, John John Florence with 44,350, Adriano Desouza with 42,3050. This year was a fantastic turn out for all of the surfers.
The X-Games started 2013 with a smash! Students have dreams of following in these incredible athletes’ footsteps. Go to www.xgames.go.com to get highlights from YOUR favorite event!