The annual Summer X-Games is held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2008. Over 300 of the world's best alternative sports athletes compete for medals and nearly US$1 million in cash.
The competitors defy gravity and test fate by launching off jumps, sliding down rails, spinning and flipping in a variety of sports.
Skateboarding action takes place in several disciplines - Street/Park, Vert and Luge. The Street event takes place on a specially-designed course with stairs, handrails and banks. Vert skating is performed on a vert ramp, where the skaters compete for singles and doubles titles on the huge halfpipe. The Street Luge is the final event, where the racers pilot highly-modified skateboards downhill at high speed.
BMX competitions include Vert, Flatland, Street/Park and Dirt Jump. The Vert and Street disciplines are the same as for the skateboarding. The Flatland discipline is highly skilful, with the cyclist performing tricks on and around his or her bike, very much like the trick cyclists of old. The Dirt Jump sees riders launch themselves off huge Motocross-style jumps, performing spins and back flips in the air.
Other disciplines include: spectator-friendly Sport Climbing, with competitors racing against each other, gladiator-style, up a man-made climbing wall in front of huge crowds; Moto X, where spectacular 30-metre jumps see the motocross riders flying some ten metres in the air, and Wakeboarding, currently one of the fastest-growing sports, where competitors jump the wakes of the boats towing them, attempting to get as much air as they can whilst performing flip, spin and grab tricks.
Skateboarding action takes place in several disciplines - Street/Park, Vert and Luge. The Street event takes place on a specially-designed course with stairs, handrails and banks. Vert skating is performed on a vert ramp, where the skaters compete for singles and doubles titles on the huge halfpipe. The Street Luge is the final event, where the racers pilot highly-modified skateboards downhill at high speed.
BMX competitions include Vert, Flatland, Street/Park and Dirt Jump. The Vert and Street disciplines are the same as for the skateboarding. The Flatland discipline is highly skilful, with the cyclist performing tricks on and around his or her bike, very much like the trick cyclists of old. The Dirt Jump sees riders launch themselves off huge Motocross-style jumps, performing spins and back flips in the air.
Other disciplines include: spectator-friendly Sport Climbing, with competitors racing against each other, gladiator-style, up a man-made climbing wall in front of huge crowds; Moto X, where spectacular 30-metre jumps see the motocross riders flying some ten metres in the air, and Wakeboarding, currently one of the fastest-growing sports, where competitors jump the wakes of the boats towing them, attempting to get as much air as they can whilst performing flip, spin and grab tricks.
