ASPEN, Colo., Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- What a
weekend! The 19th consecutive X Games in the heart of the Rocky
Mountains is officially a wrap. Monster Energy congratulates its
snowboard, freeski, and snow bike athletes on a dominant
performance at X Games Aspen 2020. During the four-day event, the
world-class team claimed a total of 22 X Games medals, including
ten gold, five silver and seven bronze. Visit monsterenergy.com for
exclusive content on all the team's highlights.
Presented by Monster Energy as the long-time energy drink
partner, X Games Aspen delivered premium action sports and musical
performances in a festival atmosphere at Buttermilk Mountain. All
action sports and festival elements at X Fest were free to the
public; ticketed musical performances included ILLENIUM, Bazzi,
Alesso, and Rae Srummard.
Showcasing the state of the art in action snow sports, X Games
Aspen 2020 awarded 59 medals in 21 disciplines. A total of 166
athletes from 21 countries competed in the event that was streamed
online and televised to audiences across the globe. The spectacle
also attracted 111,500 on-site spectators over the course of four
action-packed days.
Here's the play-by-play of how the action unfolded at X Games
Aspen 2020:
The Monster Energy team's medal run started on Thursday in the
first ever Special Olympics Unified Skiing event. The new downhill
ski race featured 16 teams, each consisting of one professional
action sports athlete, including X Games and Olympic medalists, and
one Special Olympics action sports athlete. When all was said and
done, the team of Palmer Lyons and
Monster Energy freeskier Gus
Kenworthy posted a combined finish time of 31.23 seconds to
win gold, Kenworthy's sixth X Games medal.
Continuing Thursday's podium run, the brand-new Ski Knuckle Huck
event showcased creative freestyle moves off the Big Air ramp's
roll-over, also called the 'knuckle'. In a major upset, 22-year-old
Colby Stevenson from Park City, Utah, clinched the gold medal in
his X Games debut by landing standouts like left 540 into a switch
butter 720 Japan out. And the rookie was just getting started…
When the action moved into the Monster Energy Men's Snowboard
SuperPipe final, 18-year-old Yuto Totsuka from Yokohama, Japan, revisited his ongoing rivalry
with Australia's Scotty James. Totsuka took an early lead with a
perfect run featuring frontside double cork 1260 mute, backside 900
mute, frontside 1080, Cab 1080 mute, and frontside 1080 tail grab.
He also added technical bangers like Cab 1260 double grab and
switch backside 1080 with airs topping out at 15'9" but finished in
silver medal position.
Capping off a big first day at X Games Aspen 2020, the Pacifico
Women's Snowboard Big Air made history in a clash of rookies versus
veterans. Ultimately, 15-year-old Monster Energy athlete
Kokomo Murase took silver in an
all-Japanese podium after hitting the jump with backside 900
tailgrab, backside 1080 mute, backside double cork 1260 mute and
frontside double cork 1080.
The second day of X Games Aspen 2020 continued the team's medal
run in the Women's Ski Big Air final. Contested in a new 25-minute
jam format, the event saw Monster Energy's Sarah Hoefflin claim bronze in an international
field of riders by sending technical tricks across the 70-foot gap,
including switch leftside double cork 900 safety grab, double cork
900s both ways and a switch rightside double cork 1080.
In the day's biggest story, Monster Energy's Henrik Harlaut
stepped into The Real Cost Men's Ski Big Air final with a chance to
become the most decorated ski athlete of all time. Digging deep
into his technical bag of tricks, the 28-year-old freeski icon from
Åre, Sweden, unveiled bangers such
as forward left double bio 1620 safety, switch left double bio 1620
safety, switch left triple orbital 1260 mute grab, and massive left
double cork 1620 blunt to claim gold. Breaking the tie with his
mentor, freeski pioneer Tanner Hall,
Henrik Harlaut is now officially the most decorated ski athlete in
X Games history with twelve medals to his name (7 gold, 5
silver).
As the biggest day of competitions at of X Games Aspen 2020,
Saturday awarded gold medals in a total of nine events – and
Monster Energy athletes proceeded to claim a whopping six of these
medals.
Starting things off, Monster Energy's Jamie Anderson came, saw and conquered in the
Jeep Women's Snowboard Slopestyle final. Tech rail tricks like
50-50 gap to 50-50 backside 180 out, Cab 270 on to 270 out, and
switch tailslide 270 and aerials such as frontside 720 Indy, Cab
double underflip Indy, and backside rodeo 720 earned Anderson gold
and a new record: She surpassed Shaun
White and Mark McMorris for
holding the most Snowboard Slopestyle gold in X Games history at
six medals.
Joining her on the podium, Kokomo
Murase took bronze as her second medal of the weekend.
Highlights such as 50-50 transfer to boardslide to tailtap out,
boardslide 270 out, and 50-50 frontside 180 Indy out on the rails,
plus aerials like Cab 540 Indy, backside 720 mute, Frontside double
cork 900 Indy, and switch backside 180 mute in the jump section
earned Murase her fourth X Games medal (1 gold, 2 silver, 1
bronze).
In the day's next medal event, Monster Energy's Doug Henry from Torrington, Connecticut, came into the Para
Snow BikeCross final as the defending gold medalist. Proving that
age is just a number, the 50-year-old dominated the race with a
5:22.189 overall time to claim the gold medal, riding on a
15-second lead on silver medalist Brandon
Dudley.
And who said rookies can't win gold in Men's Ski Slopestyle? The
fact that it never happened in 19 years at X Games didn't stop X
Games rookie and Monster Energy teamrider Colby Stevenson. Technical rail tricks like
switch 270 pretzel to 630 and aerial moves such as switch left dub
1080 stalefish, double cork 1440 Cuban, and switch left double cork
1440 safety grab sealed the deal and earned the US Ski Team member
his second gold of the weekend. Now that's how you debut at X
Games! Silver in the Slopestyle event went to Monster Energy rider
Evan McEachran from Canada, who finally took home his very first
medal at an X Games on the strength of ultra-technical runs
featuring down double cork 1080 Meader grab (named after
Ian Meader), switch left double 1260
tail to Japan and switch rightside
double 1440.
Monster Energy also struck gold in the Jeep Men's Snowboard
Slopestyle final, where 23-year-old Darcy
Sharpe from Comox, Canada,
worked the course with style and finesse. Rail section highlights
included hardway switch 270 bring-back, while Cab double cork 1080
mute, switch backside 1260 nosegrab, frontside triple cork 1440
Indy, backside triple cork 1440, and a backside 900 mute in the
jump section earned Sharpe his very first X Games gold.
When the focus shifted from freestyle tricks to raw speed and
acceleration in Wendy's Snow BikeCross, Monster Energy's
Cody Matechuk was looking for a
threepeat victory after back-to-back gold medals at Aspen 2018 and 2019. After a tense crash in
the semi-finals, Matechuk soared ahead of the pack in the final
race with an 8:42.768 overall time, finishing 15.641 seconds ahead
of Yanick Boucher in second.
Matechuk thereby joined the list of motorized winter sports
athletes who have earned threepeat gold medals at X Games,
including Blair Morgan, Tucker Hibbert, and Mike
Schultz.
In the competitive Women's Ski SuperPipe final, all eyes were on
defending gold medalist Cassie
Sharpe. Competing in the new 30-minute jam format proved
difficult for the 27-year-old from Comox,
Canada. Sharpe soared the highest airs and posted technical
tricks like rightside 900, flair, 360 to fakie, left 900 tailgrab
and a 11'2" high, fully inverted 1080. But Sharpe ultimately had to
settle for the bronze medal, her fourth X Games podium (2 gold, 2
bronze).
Ending an epic day on a high note, Monster Energy athletes
claimed two podium spots in the The Real Cost Men's Snowboard Big
Air final. Monster Energy's Max
Parrot returned to Aspen
after having missed the event in 2019 due to a battle with Hodgkin
Lymphoma cancer. Fully recovered and returned to competition,
Parrot unseated defending gold medalist Mark McMorris by landing his very first
frontside triple cork 1620 mute in competition, followed by a Cab
triple cork 1620 Indy and backside 1620. Parrot also stomped a Cab
triple cork 1800 Indy, a trick that won him gold in 2018 and again
sealed the deal in 2020.
Parrot now holds the most medals in the history of X Games
Snowboard Big Air (6 gold, 3 silver) and was joined on the podium
by his Monster Energy teammate Sven
Thorgren. The 25-year-old Swede earned a strong bronze medal
finish with backside flatspin 1620 stalefish, backside 1620
stalefish, frontside triple cork 1440 mute, backside triple rodeo
melon, and Cab 1620 roast beef grab.
The fourth and final day at X Games Aspen 2020 kicked off at
noon local time under blue skies with a double podium for Monster
Energy in the Jeep Women's Ski Slopestyle event. Fresh off her Big
Air bronze medal, Sarah Hoefflin had
the right formula for the 35-minute jam session: Leftside 450 on
270 out and switch rightside 270 on the rails as well as 540 mute,
bio 720, left cork 900 tailgrab, alley-oop 360 mute, and switch
right bio 900 in the jump section earned the 29-year-old from
Geneva, Switzerland, the silver
medal.
Hoefflin was joined on the podium by her Monster Energy
teammate, 21-year-old Maggie Voisin
from Whitefish, Montana. Having
won Slopestyle gold in 2018 as the first American rider in X Games
history, Voisin demonstrated why she is still a podium threat and
threw down technical rail moves and switch left 900 mute, leftside
720 tailgrab, rightside 900, and a huge 540 rodeo in the jump
section for the bronze medal.
Next up, progression was the name of the game in the first-ever
Jeep Snowboard Slope Rail Jam focused on the three rail sections on
the Slopestyle course. Monster Energy's Darcy Sharpe brought the right repertoire to the
mix and claimed silver by posting bluntslide 270 on the rainbow
rail, Cab lipslide fakie, hardway switch 270 bring-back, lipslide
270 out, frontside boardslide to fakie, and 50-50 360 out.
Following closely in third place, Sven
Thorgren earned his sixth X Games medal by sending backside
360 to 50-50 to frontside 180 out, Cab 270 on 450 out, Indy grab to
backside lipslide fakie, and Cab 450 on 270 out down the rails.
As the final event in a spectacular four-day action sports
showcase, Monster Energy Snow Bike Best Trick shut down X Games
Aspen 2020 with a bang.
Monster Energy athlete and snow bike pioneer Brett Turcotte finally had his moment to shine
in the six-rider final. After crashing his bike on the first of two
attempts, the 31-year-old from Clearwater, Canada, put it all on the line and pulled an
extended superman backflip – hanging from the handlebar
horizontally in mid-air – for 79.33 points and his first gold in
the discipline.
Turcotte now owns eight X Games medals (3 gold, 4 silver, 1
bronze) and was joined on the podium by his Monster Energy teammate
and motocross icon Jackson Strong.
Competing in a #24 Los Angeles Lakers basketball jersey in tribute
to NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, who
had tragically passed away earlier on the same day, Strong pulled a
nac nac to no-footer backflip on his second run. With a highest
score of 75.66 points, the 28-year-old from Lockhart, Australia, claimed bronze, his twelfth X Games
medal (6 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze).
One more thing: As the final trophy of the weekend, X Games
presented Monster Energy freeskier Colby
Stevenson with the Jeep Best in Snow Award voted for by the
X Games panel. The 22-year-old received the honorary Golden Grille
trophy for making history as the first-ever rookie to win the Ski
Slopestyle competition. What a weekend!
View Daily Video Highlights
Day 1 Video Highlights
Day 2 Video Highlights
Day 3 Video Highlights
Day 4 Video Highlights
Download High Res Monster Energy Athlete Medal Winners from X
Games Aspen 2020.
This wraps up an epic Winter X Games in Aspen with an incredible bounty of 22 medals
for team Monster Energy, surpassing last year's total count of 18
medals for Monster Energy at XG Aspen 2019. Thanks to all athletes,
everyone who attended and all who watched for turning X Games Aspen
2020 into a history-making event!
X Games fans in the United
States who missed the action at X Games Aspen 2020 can watch
all the highlights on ABC in a four-piece anthology: X Games Aspen
Anthology: Part 1 will air on Saturday,
February 1, at 1 p.m. ET,
followed by weekly installments every Saturday between February 8-22 at 1 p.m.
ET. Fans can also follow the latest news and highlights
across ESPN digital platforms, including XGames.com and X Games
pages on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and more.
Thank you for following the Monster Energy team at X Games Aspen
2020. Visit http://www.monsterenergy.com for exclusive recaps from
X Games Aspen 2020 including photos, videos, and contest results.
Also make sure to follow Monster Energy on Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter to keep updated on our athletes throughout the season.
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About Monster Energy
Based in Corona, California,
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traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether
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http://www.monsterenergy.com.
SOURCE Monster Energy