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<\/p>\nX Games Austin 2016 – Skateboard Vert Final – June 3, 2016<\/p>\n
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This year’s X Games is losing the fight to the one thing they can’t control \u2013 the weather. As last night’s Big Air competition was postponed\u00a0due to lightning striking close to the ramp, here is a bit of coverage of the one skateboarding event that did go down \u2013 the Skateboard Vert Final. It’s funny how this is the one event that the X Games wanted\u00a0to cancel a few years ago and is the same event that put the X Games on the map in 1999 with Tony Hawk’s 900.<\/p>\n
The one\u00a0thing that’s\u00a0interesting about the 2016\u00a0X Games is the fact that the Americans are no longer winning Gold. In a surprise upset in the Skateboard Vert Finals, Sam Beckett claimed Gold for the U.K. and Japan’s Moto Shibata took Silver while CreatureFiend, Jimmy Wilkins, grabbed bronze for the good ol’ USA. Previous X Games medalists, including\u00a0Bucky Lasek, made strong showings, yet\u00a0didn’t make it to the podium.<\/p>\n
Gold medalist, Sam Beckett, from\u00a0the U.K., is one of the nicest dudes on the professional skate circuit and is\u00a0also part of the Carve Wicked crew of bros whose motto is ‘to simply have fun.’ Silver medalist, Moto Shibata is not only a pro skater, but his dad\u00a0owns a\u00a0skate shop in Osaka, Japan, which not only features vert and bowl skating gear but also\u00a0complimentary words of wisdom\u00a0from Moto’s dad, Tetsu, about skate\u00a0history and\u00a0the ‘true essence of skateboarding.’ Of course, America’s Jimmy Wilkins is the real deal and always puts guts and grit into every run.\u00a0Respect\u00a0to all of the skateboarders that participated\u00a0and gave\u00a0it their all.<\/p>\n