X Games 15: Christian Hosoi On Top Again

The legends of skateboarding dropped in for their contest runs today in front of a VIP viewing box packed with cheering pro skaters who were barely walking when they were busy dominating the skateboard scene.

Skateboard Park Legends contest, which ran solely as an exhibition jam session at X Games 14, became a medaled event this year. The chance for gold and glory stepped the excitement level up, with the old-school pros showing themselves to be every bit as competitive now that they’re over 40 as they were when they were under 20.

1980s vert dominator Christian Hosoi, who regularly used to compete against Tony Hawk, and Planet Earth founder Chris Miller shined in the finals today, one-upping each other with stylish old school and new school tricks. Hosoi took the title in the end, going huge on his transfers and getting almost upside down in the cradle, to the delight of his many longtime fans.

“I can’t tell you how good it feels to be here,” said Hosoi of his win. “I’m alive. I’m on my skateboard at the X Games. I feel like I’m 18 again.”

Lance Mountain skated his way into bronze, grinning while he pulled stalled-out inverted handplants in the deep-end pool section.

“We built this sport on concrete,” said Mountain, when asked about the concrete pool built for the X Games Park competitions. “When I was first asked to come and skate ramps here, I told them I would wait for concrete. And here it is. This park was amazing.”