SKATEBOARD BIG AIR AT X GAMES X

Danny Way Shatters His Own Record

Prior to the debut of the Skateboard Big Air competition at X Games X, its pioneer Danny Way broke the Guinness World Record of 75’ (from takeoff to landing) by four feet, nailing a 79’ practice run.

“I didn’t plan on breaking any records.” said Way, whose last X Games gold-medal victory was in 1995 in Skateboard High Air. “As the person who created the ramp I was already under a lot of pressure just to win it.”

On the last day of X Games X at the STAPLES Center venue, Way, along with fellow skaters Jake Brown, Bob Burnquist, Jason Ellis, Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Andy Macdonald, attempted to be the first medalists in Big Air history. In classic form, Way stole the show. In his second attempt he skated down the very apparatus he designed – the Mega Ramp – accomplishing a backside 360 into a Christ Air for a score of 91.66 (the highest score of the day).

The X Games X Men’s Skateboard Vert champion, Gagnon won the silver medal, coincidently, by completing a trick he never did before – a one foot McTwist. “I’m really excited about this….Big Air is my favorite event,” said Gagnon. “It was my last run and my first time trying this trick so I really wanted to land it.”

Legendary skater Andy Macdonald took home his 15th X Games medal (eight gold, four silver and three bronze) with today’s third-place victory. The 10-time X Games competitor, who actually skated with two sprains (ankle and knee), said, “I am very excited about landing the ‘Cecil’ (a 360 board varial with a spin that Macdonald invented). I didn’t want to wait until my last jump. I was happy to accomplish it on the third jump and was very excited to be apart of this first event.”

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, X Games X is the world’s premier action sports competition featuring more than 150 of the world’s best athletes competing in: Aggressive In-line Skate, Bike Stunt, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Wakeboard. The event is being held August 5-8, 2004 in Los Angeles with live primetime daily coverage on ESPN and ABC Sports.

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for more X games info and skare results visit:expn.go.com/expn/summerx/2004/index