Paul Rodriguez – one of street skating’s fastest rising stars and the first skateboarder to earn a Nike sponsorship – is proving that the person wearing the shoes might have a little something to do with it too. It was Rodriguez, whose smooth style embodies everything the Swoosh represents, who showed consistency throughout the four sessions of the X Games 11 Skateboard Street Men’s final outside STAPLES Center on Thursday afternoon.
His score of 92.50 allowed Rodriguez (Chatsworth, Calif.) to claim his second straight gold medal in the event and the first since his victory at X Games 10.
“Last year was great, but this year was even better,” said Rodriguez, whose repertoire of switch tricks put him into the lead after the third session and allowed him to hold off the competition for first.
“I never try to pretend I have it in the bag,” said Rodriguez.
Although his lead over second-place finisher Greg Lutzka (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who claimed silver with a score of 85.25 – his first career X Games medal – was enough to where he could have been thinking of victory.
Lutzka nailed a 270 Switchback Noseblunt during the second session, a trick he had never before completed, and was feeling confident.
“I tried to do some new stuff I hadn’t done before and I was happy about that,” he said.
Chris Cole (Levittown, Pa.) burst onto the scene in his X Games debut with a bronze medal – he already has three first-place finishes in street competitions in 2005.
Teen phenom Ryan Sheckler (San Clemente, Calif.), who was in first place before a fall during the rail session, finished just out of medal contention in fourth and street legend Eric Koston (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished in seventh.
ESPN X Games is the definitive annual action sports competition featuring more than 150 of the world’s best athletes competing in: BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Wakeboard. X Games 11 is being held August 4-7 in Los Angeles and airing live on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes. Its venues include STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center (Carson, Calif.), Long Beach Marine Stadium for Wakeboard and Puerto Escondido, Mexico for Surfing. All competitions at STAPLES Center and The Home Depot Center are ticketed events, which can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com. X Games will remain in Los Angeles through 2009.
