You could feel the wind generated by the skaters when they landed the 70-foot gap into the quarterpipe from where the press pit was located, giving each of us yet another chill from just how high and fast the pro big-air skaters were going last night, July 31, during the X Games 14 Big Air Skateboarding Finals in downtown Los Angeles. It was a roller coaster of drama as 6 competitors busted out 5 runs each, topping one after the other into the final few runs, and clearly pushing the limits of what’s, so far, been considered humanly possible.
First off, just to make it into the finals meant having to go big and fast hours earlier, resulting in more than a few bruised skaters—by the time the finals rolled around, each were hobbling slightly after landing. But in the end, it was Bobby Burnquist’s night. The Brazilian who lives in SoCal and is married to legendary skater Jen O’Brien, pulled off 2 amazing runs, including the clincher with a switch backside ollie over the 70-footer, moving into an indy 360 in the quarterpipe for a score of 96.
This happened after Danny Way (the DC-sponsored skater who jumped the Great Wall of China) came back from a horrific, bone-crushing crash that had the 6-person-deep paramedic crew picking him up after he spun a backflip without his board after nailing the coping in the quarterpipe at a speed of oh, say, 50 mph.
Danny stuck a backflip finally over the gap and pulled a frontside 540 in the quarterpipe that pushed him to the leader of the pack and had the crowd at its feet. Then, he fell again, paramedics returned, and skater friend Bucky Lasek came out to help get back to his feet.
We all thought that HAD to be it for Danny Way. No way would he pull off a final run. But he did and landed and again was in first.
Still, there was Jake Brown who stomped many of his trial runs and seemed like the one to watch, which was true as he eventually came in with the bronze with a backside no-grab 360 to an 18-feet-eight-inch high Mctwist on the quarterpipe.
But Bobby came through once again. As he put it in the press conference, “It’s all about pedal to the metal with this event. That’s what Danny Way is all about and that’s what Jake Brown is all about, so I had no choice but to push it.”
“That was full throttle. That was the craziest competition I’ve ever seen,” Jake replied to Bob’s statement.
In the end, Bobby’s score was enough to win the Big Air Skateboarding Competition gold, with Danny taking the silver, and Jake taking the bronze. The podium shot said volumes as DC’s marketing manager accepted the silver for Danny since he was off to the hospital. But Bobby and Jake celebrated in style, clinging to their medals like Olympic gold—which to action sports athletes, truly is.
Stay tuned for more lives stories from the X Games 14 from Los Angeles by Label Networks.
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