The third day of X Games 2021 competition moved to the CA Training Facility for skateboarding and BMX competitions including Men’s Skateboard Park, Women’s Skateboard Park, Pacifico Skateboard Vert, Pacifico Skateboard Vert Best Trick and Wendy’s BMX Street. In addition to all competitions being available on X Games YouTube, fans can catch the best of X Games 2021 tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on ABC and 2 to 5 p.m. on ESPN2. The event is closed to the public with no spectators in attendance throughout the week.

Competition kicked off with Men’s Skateboard Park, where X Games rookie, Liam Pace, ended up on top. Though Pace had previously earned an X Games medal as an amateur in Next X Skateboard Park at Minneapolis 2018, this was his first in the Skateboard Park discipline. Run two was Pace’s best pass, bumping him into the gold medal slot with highlights including a long backside Smith grind, backside 540, kickflip Indy, frontside wallride, frontside nosegrind, frontside 180 Ollie over the box jump, and full Cab backside disaster. Fellow rookie and CA|TF regular Gavin Bottger took silver while Tristan Rennie took bronze, his second in the discipline.

In Women’s Skateboard Park, the teenagers once again ruled the competition – the field had an average age of just 18. Nine days after turning 13, Sky Brown dropped into her first run and dropped a frontside 540 as her last trick. She is the first woman to land it and the only woman who does that trick in competition. However, it was her third run that was her best, which included a frontside 360 box jump, frontside alleyoop 270 on the hip and a backside tailslide through the corner. 19-year-old Mami Tezuka launched herself into silver medal position with her last run, where she stomped a frontside stalefish over the gap in run four, which she had never landed previously. 17-year-old Encinitas native Bryce Wettstein rounded out the podium with bronze. All three riders earned their first X Games medals. Sky Brown will represent Great Britain and Bryce Wettstein will represent the USA in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. 

Outside on the vert ramp, Jimmy Wilkins earned his third straight gold medal in Pacifico Skateboard Vert. This marks only the third time X Games has seen a Skateboard Vert threepeat – and one of them was competing today alongside Wilkins: Bucky Lasek. Wilkins’ runs included tricks like  kickflip melon, alley oop frontside ollie, alley oop tailgrap 540, ollie 540, backside ollie to disaster. Eleven-time X Games medalist Elliot Sloan nabbed his first-ever podium in Vert with silver and 10-time X Games medalist Mitchie Brusco added a bronze to his collection.

The Pacifico Skateboard Vert Best Trick contest had a surprise entry from Skateboard legend Tony Hawk at 53 years old. The last time Hawk competed at X Games was in 2003, when he won gold in Vert Best Trick with a 900. Eighteen years later, 12-year-old Gui Khury made X Games history by besting Hawk’s 900 with the first-ever fakie 1080 mute landed in X Games competition. The medal also landed him in the history books as the youngest gold medalist in X Games history. 

Garrett Reynolds took gold once again in BMX Street, continuing his dominance with his fourth consecutive gold and 14th gold overall. Reynolds’ tricks included a barspin to manual to tire ride up rail to double barspin off, a switch 180 switch barspin over the rail to flat and a 180 whip down the stairs. German Felix Prangenberg added his second silver and overall X Games medal in the discipline, while Scottish rider Alex Donnachie took bronze.

Action wraps up tomorrow from the CA Training Facility with Women’s Skateboard Street, Men’s Skateboard Street and Skateboard Street Best Trick. For the full X Games 2021 competition schedule and more information, please visit www.XGames.com. 

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