The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organised, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, as well as prize money.
Etnies is a footwear brand based in Lake Forest, California, United States, and is owned by Sole Technology, Inc. As of 2013, the company sponsors professional skateboarders and BMX riders, LAB more and releases signature shoe models.
Mat Hoffman is an American BMX rider who is considered one of the best vert ramp riders in the history of the sport. He is nicknamed "The Condor" and runs the BMX Freestyle brand Hoffman BMX Bikes based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was contracted to ride for Haro Bikes.
David Michael Mirra was an American BMX rider who also competed in rallycross racing. He set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the X Games, and earned at least one BMX medal at the event in all but one year from the competition's inception in 1995 until 2009. He had also competed for several years with the Subaru Rally Team USA as a rallycross driver. Mirra rode for and was fully sponsored by Haro Bikes from the mid-1990s until starting his own bike company. He was a member of the team which won the 2014 Race Across America four-person male category. Mirra died by suicide on February 4, 2016. He was inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame on June 11, 2016.
Ryan Nyquist is an American professional BMX rider with 16 X-Games medals, 39 X-Games competition starts and 60 Dew Tour finals appearances. Nyquist is considered one of the greatest and diversely skilled BMX riders ever. Nyquist has won numerous gold medals in the X Games Dirt Jumping & Bike Park events. Recently Nyquist has had an interest in freeride mountain biking and has been training in mountain biking as well as BMX. He currently rides for Haro Bikes, Vans Shoes, Rockstar Energy Drink, and The Jiffy Market of Los Gatos.
The 900 is a 2½-revolution aerial spin performed on a skateboard ramp. While airborne, the skateboarder makes two-and-a-half turns about their longitudinal axis, thereby facing down when coming down. It is considered one of skateboarding's most technically demanding tricks.
Scot Alexander Breithaupt was an entrepreneur, "Old School" professional motorcycle MX and bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and a founding father of BMX in 1970 whose prime competitive years were from 1970 to 1984. Many consider him, in some ways, a founder of "Old School BMX"—an era from roughly 1969 to 1987 or 1988, from its very beginnings to just after its first major slump in popularity from 1985 to 1988. Racing started to rise in participation again around 1988–89 and is considered the start of Mid School BMX, roughly 1988–2000. He was born in Long Beach, California.
Scotty Cranmer is an American BMX rider. He is tied with Dave Mirra for the most X Games BMX Park medals with nine, three each in gold, silver and bronze over fourteen appearances. He attended Jackson Memorial High School. Nicknamed "the Bulldozer", he is sponsored by Vans Shoes, Hyper Bike Co., Fox Clothing, Pro-tec Helmets, Monster Energy Drink and Snafu. He owns a bike shop in Howell, NJ called SC Action Sports Bicycle Shop. He is also widely known for having a YouTube channel under the name Scotty Cranmer in which he makes videos with his friends riding skateparks, driving cars, and playing games while riding their bikes. His younger brother Matty is a regular guest on the channel. As of June 2021, the channel has accumulated over 1.71 million subscribers and 500 million total views since releasing his first video in September 2015.
The Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male athlete from the world of action sports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2004 after the non-gender-specific Best Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award was presented the previous two years. The Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award trophy, created by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the male adjudged to be the best action sports athlete in a given calendar year. Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.
Daniel Dhers is a Venezuelan professional BMX rider. He is currently sponsored by Red Bull, POC, DC Shoes, Specialized, Albe's Mailorder, and Verizon. Dhers lived in Greenville, North Carolina, known as Protown USA because of the concentration of BMX riders that live there, including Dave Mirra. Dhers in 2013 opened in Holly Springs, North Carolina a public mountain biking, BMX, and skateboarding park, the Daniel Dhers Action Sports Complex.
The American Freestyle Association (AFA) was the first governing body for BMX freestyle in the 1980s. It was founded by Bob Morales in 1981. The first contest was held at Lakewood, Ca in 1981. Pioneer Riders in 1981 were Eddie Fiola, William Crazy Lacy Furmage, Fred Becker, Tony Ray Davis and Richard Bailey - The AFA started out as the Amateur Skate Park Association promoting events at skateboard parks and gained early notoriety with a series call the "King of the Skateparks" series. BMX Action magazine covered these events helping to bring attention to this new sport. During that time BMX Freestyle consisted of Vert competition and the Flatland Division. The AFA was so popular that virtually every state throughout the country held local events.
Nigel Sylvester is an American professional BMX athlete; He is best known for his progressive bicycling skills as well as his digital content featuring his unique BMX stunts and adventures around the globe. His most notable film series is GO, which gives viewers a first hand POV of Nigel's riding, featuring some of the most recognizable locations and attractions in the world. Nigel is considered a generational talent; unlike traditional BMX athletes, he does not compete. He built his career through cinematic content and by leveraging his creative expression through the use of social media.
Tony Magnusson is a Swedish semi-retired professional skateboarder and part-owner of Osiris Shoes. Magnusson gained significant fame throughout the 1980s by inventing several tricks and becoming one of the first professional skateboarders to start a rider-owned company.
X Games XVII was an action sporting event which took place from July 28 – 31, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Venues for the event include the Staples Center, Nokia Theater, and other areas of L.A. Live. The games featured the sports of motocross, skateboarding, BMX, and rallying. X Games 17 was also the first ever X Games to feature Enduro X, which replaced Super X.
Grant Taylor is an American professional skateboarder. He is the son of former professional skateboarder Thomas Taylor and won Thrasher Magazine's Skater of The Year in 2011. Grant's style of skateboarding is known to be fast and powerful. He is recognized for his unique versatile skateboarding.
X Games XVIII was an action sporting event which took place from June 28 – July 1, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Venues for the event included the Staples Center, Nokia Theater and the streets near L.A. Live. The games featured the sports of Moto X, skateboarding, BMX, and RallyCross. Last year's X Games 17 was the first ever X Games to feature Enduro X, which replaced Super X. In 2013, the Summer X Games will be held in four international cities in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil ; Barcelona, Spain ; Munich, Germany ; and Los Angeles, California.
X Games Austin 2015 was an action sporting event that took place June 4–7, 2015, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Jamie Bestwick is a British BMX rider. He won 13 gold medals in the BMX Vert event at the X Games, and one gold medal for Vert Best Trick.
Kevin Robinson nicknamed K-Rob was a professional freestyle BMX rider. Widely recognized as one of the best riders of all time, Robinson was integral in creating Megaramp disciplines for BMX. Aside from this, Robinson was most notable for two stunts in his career: He was the first to successfully land a Double Flair in competition at the 2006 X Games and, in 2016, set the Guinness World record for the highest air on a BMX in his home town of East Providence, Rhode Island. Robinson was a longtime sponsor of Hoffman Bikes, Red Bull, and Target. Robinson died of a stroke, ten days shy of his 46th birthday, on December 9, 2017.
Ethen Godrey Roberts, is a professional Freeride Mountain Bike and FMX rider known for his participation with the extreme sports show Nitro Circus. He's the first to land a triple backflip on a mountain bike and has since become a pioneer of big mountain bike tricks, like a tsunami double backflip (2013) and triple backflip (2014). He's a pioneer athlete in the Snow Bike Winter X Games event, eventually winning a bronze medal in the 2019 Snow-Bike Best Trick event. He's also the nephew of the legendary action sports pioneer Gregg Godfrey who is the co-founder of Nitro Circus.
