And, five years later, his peers are still trying to catch up. Sandro Dias – only the third person in history to land the trick – did so again on Saturday night to grab gold (his first at an X Games) in Skateboard Vert Best Trick.
Dias (Santa Ana, Calif.) hit the trick halfway through the 30-minute jam session and ignited the crowd at STAPLES Center. “I’m stoked to have landed the 900 here at X Games X,” said Dias, who first landed the trick at Latin X Games III in May of this year. “It’s very special. If the other skaters didn’t push me I wouldn’t have landed such a great trick.”
Fellow competitors Pierre-Luc Gagnon (Montreal, Canada) and Danny Mayer (San Diego, Calif.) gave him a run for his money. But, in the end, the 900 still seems to have the marquee appeal to win a contest.
Gagnon landed a Nollie Heel Flip Indy 540 to finish with the silver in second. It was sweet after a disappointing seventh-place finish in last year’s competition.
“I was super-hyped after practicing on the mega ramp,” said Gagnon. “I was excited to pull it off. This year was payback.”
Mayer owes his first-ever X Games medal (bronze) to Bucky Lasek who pulled out of the competition after winning Gold in Skateboard Vert Friday. That moved Mayer, the first alternate, into the competition.
And he took advantage, nailing a Kickflip McTwist. “I owe everything to Bucky,” said Mayer, who sported a T-shirt that said “Pay Me” across the front. “He said if he won the other comp I could have his spot. It’s my first X Games medal in one of the best contests I’ve ever seen.”
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, X Games X is the world’s premier action sports competition featuring more than 150 of the world’s best athletes competing in: Aggressive In-line Skate, Bike Stunt, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Wakeboard. The event is being held August 5-8, 2004 in Los Angeles with live primetime daily coverage on ESPN and ABC Sports
