X Games 17

Article by Gloria H Schneider









Let the shredding begin!

U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN started the annual sporting event in 1995 with a big focus on action sports. The Summer X Games are under way in Los Angeles from July 28 through the 31st.

The games include Motocross, Rally Car Racing, Skateboarding and BMX.

The game got off to a rough start at Staples Center for Travis Pastrana, moto X hopeful when he crashed on Thursday night at the ending his competition. He was clearly upset with himself as he was carried off on a stretcher, saying, “It’s like I learned nothing in the last two years.” His foot and ankle fracture also ended a NASCAR competition debut scheduled for Saturday night.

ESPN Action Sports reported, rookie Raven Tershy snagged the Skateboard Park finals on opening night of X Games 17, beating out 2010 champion Pedro Barros and newcomer Ben Hatchell for the top spot in a tight fight for the win.

Australian riders dominated Thursday’s Moto X Best Trick contest at X Games 17, taking all three spots: Jackson “Jacko” Strong landed the first-ever competition front flip, spinning slightly off-axis on his way to winning Moto X Best Trick.

One scheduled X Game competitor didn’t even make it to games, Mike “The Godfather” Metzger was recovering after a ten-day hospital stay for a lacerated liver, erupted kidney and three broken cervical vertebrae. Metzger crashed on a practice run at home while training for Saturday’s Moto XSpeed and Style event at 17.14-year-old amateur Skateboarder, Mitchie Brusco won his first ever invite to X Games Seventeen with a 900 at the Nescau MegaRamp Invitational in Brazil earlier this month. The 900 is a 2.5-revolution (900 degrees) aerial spin performed on a skateboard ramp. It is considered one of skateboarding’s most technically demanding tricks.”Big Air” fans didn’t have to wait long to see if he could land another one. Brusco got a clean 900 on Thursday at practice. Brusco started skating when his was 3-1/2. By four years old, he was doing 360’s in his living room on a board his Mom bought him at Target. Once they unleashed him a local skateboard park, it wasn’t long before Mitchie was signed by the sports agency Octagon. By five, he was on the “Today Show,” and was being featured in skate and sports magazines. He won a small contest and, along with it, a trip to the Gravity Games, where he was the event’s youngest competitor.Up Friday night at the games is the BMX freestyle vert competition where Jamie Bestwick is going for a four-peat to earn his eighth gold at the games.

BMX racing is a type of off-road bicycle racing. While BMX racing is an individual sport, teams are often formed from racers in different classifications for camaraderie and often for business exposure of a sponsoring organization or company. BMX racing rewards strength, quickness, and bike handling. Many successful BMX racers have gone on to leverage their skills in other forms of bicycle and motorcycle competitions such as the vertical competition at X Games 17.



About the Author

Gloria is an Avid write for Assisted Living Los Angeles and Hospice Tampa