Monster Energy Athletes Take Gold Medals and Sweep Podiums on Day 2 of X Games Ventura 2024
PR Newswire
12 min read
Monster Energy congratulates its Skateboard, BMX and Moto X athletes on a strong performance at X Games Ventura 2024 on Saturday.
VENTURA, Calif., June 30, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --
Monster Energy Riders Claim 12 Medals (3 Gold, 3 Silver, and 6 Bronze) on Second Day of Competitions
Monster Energy Riders Sweep Podium in Men's Skateboard Street Best Trick with Nyjah Huston Taking Gold, Filipe Mota Silver, and Jhancarlos Gonzalez Bronze
Brady Baker Defends Gold Medal in BMX Dirt, Canadian Mike Varga Clinches Bronze
32-Year-Old Jackson Strong from Australia Claims Gold in Moto X Best Trick, Harry Bink Bronze
15-Year-Old Liz Akama Takes Silver in Women's Skateboard Street and Bronze in Street Best Trick
26-Year-Old Edouard Damestoy from Bordeaux, France, Earns Bronze in Men's Skate Vert Best Trick
Kevin Peraza from Tucson, Arizona, Takes Silver in Men's BMX Park, Argentina's Jose Torres Bronze
The most action-packed day of Summer X Games is a wrap! Monster Energy congratulates its Skateboard, BMX and Moto X athletes on a strong performance at X Games Ventura 2024 on Saturday. In a packed schedule of nine medal competitions inside Ventura County Fairgrounds & Events Center, Monster Energy athletes claimed a total of 12 medals, including 3 gold medals, in front of a sold-out live audience.
In a major display of technical street skills, the Monster Energy team swept the full podium (taking all three top spots) in Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street Best Trick with 29-year-old Nyjah Huston from Laguna Beach, California, taking gold, 17-year-old Filipe Mota from Minas Gerais, Brazil, earning silver, and 27-year-old Jhancarlos Gonzalez from Bogota, Columbia, taking bronze.
The victories kept coming in BMX Dirt, where 21-year-old Brady Baker from Toms River, New Jersey, defended his gold medal in dominant fashion. Ending the night on a spectacular note, the Moto X Best Trick final saw 32-year-old Jackson Strong from Lockhart, Australia, take the win with an innovative trick creation on his final attempt.
Here's how Saturday at X Games Ventura 2024 unfolded for Team Monster Energy:
Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street Best Trick: Nyjah Huston Takes Gold in Full Podium Sweep for Team In a major upset on Saturday, the team locked down the top three podium spots in the Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street Best Trick event. Contested in a head-to-head format with two skateboarders facing off to advance to the next round, the Best Trick event featured eight of the world's best street skaters.
When the dust cleared, the winningest street skater of all time, 29-year-old Nyjah Huston from Laguna Beach, California, claimed the gold medal, his 14th career X Games gold and 22nd medal overall.
In the first matchup, Huston prevailed over Jamie Foy by putting down a perfect switch frontside heelflip tailslide the big rail. In the semifinal matchup against Canada'sRyan Decenzo, Huston raised the bar by landing a perfect nollie heelflip backside lipslide. Huston then punched his ticket to the final with a frontside nollie heelflip noseblunt slide.
In the final battle for gold, Huston met 17-year-old Filipe Mota from Minas Gerais, Brazil, in a battle of record-setting X Games medalist versus no-medal-holding newcomer. Huston edged ahead by posting a nollie heelflip backside tailslide fakie. Meanwhile, Mota looked to lock in a kickflip hurricane grind but 'only' pulled off a boardslide, handing Huston the gold.
"It's just sick to be out here skating with the guys. Congrats to everyone out there ripping!" said Huston upon claiming Best Trick gold at X Games Ventura 2024.
On the strength of Saturday's gold, Huston matched the record set by Bob Burnquist for most X Games gold medals in Skateboarding at 14 medals. "To be up there with Bob, he's a legend. I grew up watching him skate in all the videos," said Huston. For a shot at more medals, Huston has yet to compete in Sunday's Men's Skateboard Street event, where he ranges among the favorites.
Filipe Mota earned his way into the final by landing a perfect bigspin backside hurricane grind the rail in his first round against fellow Brazilian athlete Kelvin Hoefler. He then bested Colombia's Jhancarlos Gonzalez with a clean heelflip backside tailslide the rail and walked away from the final matchup against Huston with the silver medal.
Completing the podium sweep, 27-year-old Jhancarlos Gonzalez from Bogota, Columbia, edged out Brazil'sGiovanni Vianna in his first battle with tricks including switch backside noseblunt slide and switch frontside bluntslide shove-it the rail. In the match for third place, he outscored Canada's Decenzo by landing Caballerial frontside noseslide and switch kickflip frontside boardslide to claim bronze as his first X Games medal. He also makes history as the first athlete from Colombia to earn a medal at X Games. Watch for these skaters in Sunday's Men's Skateboard Street contest!
BMX Dirt: Monster Energy's Brady Baker Defends Gold, Mike Varga Claims Bronze One of the most anticipated events unfolded in the BMX Dirt final. The man to beat? No other than 21-year-old Brady Baker from Toms River, New Jersey, after making history in 2023 by clinching gold in his rookie X Games appearance. Dropping into the session as the top qualified rider from Friday's prelims, Baker faced heavy competition from the best riders on the circuit.
Undeterred by the pressure, Brady came through with a flawless run featuring Cashroll whip to tabletop, 360 triple tailwhip, backflip double tailwhip, and 720 barspin-catch-barspin on the final hit for 94.33 points and the gold medal.
"It was crazy; last year, I was the ultimate rookie. This year, I did it again somehow. I did put in the work, but it still feels crazy somehow!" said Monster Energy's Baker upon clinching gold in BMX Dirt at X Games Ventura 2024.
Joining Baker on the podium, 27-year-old Mike Varga from Oshawa, Canada, put together a flawless run on his third and final attempt. Putting it all on the line, Varga put down double backflip, 720 no-hander, Cashroll, and 720 double tailwhip for 92.00 points and the bronze medal.
"I've been looking for this medal for many years. I got fourth a couple of times, but now I got third place, let's see if I can get second or first next year. Just keep sending it!" said Varga, who now owns five X Games medals (3 gold, 2 bronze).
Moto X Best Trick: Jackson Strong Earns Gold to Become Most-Medaled Moto X Athlete in a Single Discipline X Games Ventura 2024 concluded with another major victory for team Monster Energy in the Moto X Best Trick final. Last year's silver medal finisher, 32-year-old Jackson Strong from Lockhart, Australia, battled to put down the highest-scoring trick of the night on his final attempt to clinch the gold medal in an all-Australian podium.
Dropping in as the final rider of the night, Strong was sitting in second place behind fellow Australian Rob Adelberg in first place. Putting everything on the line, Strong landed a fully extended jackhammer frontflip for 97.66 points and the victory in Moto X Best Trick.
"That was definitely the biggest one I've ever done," said Strong about his winning trick, adding: "I had to dig really deep to get that… I'm still shaking!"
Strong now owns 16 X Games medals (8 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze). He has claimed eight gold medals in Moto X Best Trick, setting the record as the rider with the most gold medals in a single Moto X discipline. Epic!
Also rising to the podium, 30-year-old Harry Bink from Canberra, Australia, stormed into the session by putting down a flawless trick on his first attempt: A perfectly executed double backflip earned the Australian 91.00 points and the bronze medal at X Games Ventura 2024. Bink now owns three X Games medals, all of them bronze.
Monster Energy Women's Skateboard Street: Liz Akama Secures Silver Medal Earlier on Saturday, the most active day at X Games Ventura 2024 started with the Monster Energy Women's Skateboard Street final. The international field of riders included previous X Games gold medalists and Olympic athletes. Nevertheless, 15-year-old Monster Energy rider Liz Akama from Miyagi, Japan, qualified for the final in the first place.
Now, the challenge for Akama was to defend the top spot against heavy competition! When all was said and done, the Japanese Olympic athlete finished in second place amid an all-Japanese podium.
A perfect first run including frontside feeble grind the big rail, frontside Smith grind the box, frontside tailslide the quarter pipe, frontside 270 switch frontside boardslide the rainbow rail, frontside bigspin varial the Euro gap, and backside Smith grind the big rail earned Akama 85.66 points and the silver medal. End of story? Far from it: Akama would be back in the Best Trick event for another shot at gold!
BMX Park: Monster Energy's Kevin Peraza Claims Silver, Jose Torres Earns Bronze The medals kept coming in the Men's BMX Park event on Saturday night. Riding high after claiming BMX Street gold on Friday, Kevin Peraza put his all-terrain skills on full display to earn the silver medal.
In his highest-scoring second run, Peraza put together superman seat grab, truckdriver to unturndown, 360 double downside tailwhip, big wallride, can-can, flair tailwhip, high one-handed tabletop, big pocket air, and a technical flair 180 over the box jump for 91.00 points and the silver medal.
"So much wind, playing with the elements. Making it happen was so much for all of us, but glad that no one was injured. That was a rough one, so hyped!" said Peraza.
Bumping his X Games medal count to 10 medals (6 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Peraza will also be competing in Sunday's BMX Park Best Trick event for another shot at precious metal. Stay tuned!
Also rising to the podium, the previous year's gold medalist in the discipline, 29-year-old Jose Torres from Cordoba, Argentina, initially had a tough time stringing a perfect run together. Sitting outside of podium contention when final attempts rolled around, Torres put everything on the line and connected a flawless run to claim the bronze medal.
On Run 3, Torres finessed a huge double downside tailwhip over the centerpiece, backflip tailwhip, double tailwhip the quarter, 360 downside tailwhip whip, barspin no-hander the center jump, 360 no-hander, backflip double tailwhip and manual on the awning to barspin for 90.66 points and third place.
"I was so happy to be invited, said Torres. It's such a dream to be here at X Games that I could not miss the contest. I was dealing with an injury but I'm happy to end up with this result!" said Monster Energy's Torres. Torres now owns three X Games medals (1 gold, 2 bronze).
Monster Energy Women's Skateboard Street Best Trick: Liz Akama Claims Bronze A spectacular day for Team Monster Energy continued with another podium finish in the Monster Energy Women's Skateboard Best Trick contest. Eight international riders threw down their best tricks on the course's big rail in a 35-minute jam session.
After a heavy showdown of never-been-done tricks and close calls, 15-year-old Monster Energy rider Liz Akama claimed bronze as her second medal at X Games Ventura 2024. The trick that moved her onto the podium? A technical frontside 270 switch frontside boardslide the big rail allowed the Japanese Olympic athlete to edge into third place.
After claiming silver and bronze medals at X Games Ventura 2024, Akama now owns five X Games medals (3 silver, 2 bronze). Akama recently emerged from the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) as the top-ranked female street skater headed to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Men's Skateboard Vert Best Trick: Edouard Damestoy Claims Bronze As the grand finale of Saturday's highest-scoring trick sessions, the Men's Skateboard Vert Best Trick stoked the crowd with never-been-done tricks on the 14-feet-tall halfpipe. Dropping into the session as one of the known innovators of modern-day halfpipe skateboarding, Edouard Damestoy put down a podium-worthy trick on his first attempt.
Straight out the gate, Damestoy finessed a frontside rodeo 720 – approaching the wall forward and spinning into a fakie landing – for the bronze medal in the highly competitive session. After earning bronze on Saturday night, Damestoy now owns four X Games medals (3 gold, 1 bronze).
One more thing: After getting close to landing another never-been-landed trick during the official contest, previous year's silver medalist Moto Shibata took an extra attempt to make history. Cheered on by the crowd, the Japanese-style icon landed a mind-melting frontside front foot impossible 540 lien air (the historic move did not affect X Games scoring as it happened after time).
That wraps up Saturday! Stay tuned for more action from X Games California 2024 on Sunday, with competitions in Skate, BMX, and Moto X disciplines inside Ventura County Fairgrounds & Events Center.
Make sure to tune in: All competitions will be live streamed on YouTube and Twitch, as well as broadcast during specific windows on ABC/ESPN2. Also, look forward to a special live episode of the sports and pop culture podcast UNLEASHED with The Dingo, Danny, and Brittney, Fueled by Monster Energy streamed live from X Games Ventura 2024 on Twitch from noon to 1 p.m. PT.
About Monster Energy Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes, and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, sports, bands, believers, and fans. See more about Monster Energy including all of its drinks at http://www.monsterenergy.com.
