SEOUL, KOREA FOR THE FIRST TIME PROUDLY HOSTS THE ASIAN X GA

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ESPN

2005-05-29 12:44

Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--The Asian X Games are in their seventh year, but for the first time the people of Seoul, Korea have the pleasure of staging the event in their city for the next three days. More than 200 athletes from all over the world have traveled to Korea with the hopes of taking home X Games gold to their country. Twenty-four of those athletes represent Korea at the seventh annual Asian X Games. Today at Jamsil Gymnasium, home of the 1988 Summer Olympics, more than 3200 spectators showed their support for the new event in their city. From May 26-29, athletes will compete in Aggressive In-line, Skateboard, Freestyle BMX, Sport Climbing and Wakeboard. In addition, three Moto X athletes will put on a demo for the people of Seoul.

Admission to the event is free.

Skateboard

Today on the vert ramp fourteen world-class skaters entered the preliminary round of competition where ten of the athletes would move into Saturday’s final. The day came down to Japan, Brazil, Australia and the USA skating it out for those crucial spots. Brazil’s Sandro Dias was a crowd favorite with high airs and consistent runs, but Neal Hendrix of USA beat out the Brazilian by three points to move into tomorrow’s final as the leader. Rounding out the ten finalists was Chris Senn, who is known as a street skater and will compete in Sunday’s final, wowed the crowd with his vert skills.

BMX Freestyle

With a great turnout of twenty-seven BMX park riders, preliminaries started this afternoon where three heats of riders threw down their hardest tricks to make the tough cut to the final. One of the sport organizers for BMX said the Asian athletes have progressed immensely over the last few years. Double tailwhips and flips were attempted and landed. Australian’s Ryan Guettler couldn’t be stopped with front flips over the box jump and double tailwhips all over the course. Guettler took the number one spot moving into Saturday’s final.

The regularly scheduled BMX vert prelims yesterday were moved to a final only with seven riders. In tonight’s final, one of the riders had his dream come true when he became one of only a handful of bike riders who landed a 900 (2 and ½ rotations) in a vert contest. Tim Wood of Australia became the athlete of the day with two perfect runs and a flawless 900. “The other athletes believed in me. Their support helped me,” Wood said, who contemplated coming to the event. Wood and his wife refinanced their home so that he could travel to Korea for the Asian X Games. “I knew I would look back ten years from now and wished I went.”

Sport Climbing

Men’s semi-finals began today with twenty-five climbers representing nine different countries. The intense competition brought the Koreans to their feet as six of the fifteen finalists will represent the host country in Sunday’s final. Up against several Korean champions, Jaime Pahati of the Philippines flew past their times to put himself in the number one seed for the finals. Malaysia’s Hafzanizam Bakhori and Japan’s Keita Mogaki finished second and third, respectively. The women’s semi-final will be held tomorrow.

Wakeboard

Today for round one of the wakeboard competition at the Han River, Australia’s Josh Sanders was the favorite and the man of the hour. He withheld the pressure and the wind today to

remain number one with a large margin of twenty points. Manabu Nagatsuka of Japan and Bunyalo Jumruangg of Thailand finished second and third, respectively. Korea is proud of their very own Sung Jun Park who made the cut to the finals which will be held on Saturday.

Aggressive In-line

Park prelims closed the evening last night with the Netherland’s Sven Boekhorst reigning the course with his high-scoring performance. Sven is no stranger to the X Games as he is a two-time gold medalist. He went into today’s final in the number one spot. Tonight in the final competition, the spotlight moved from Boekhorst to the youngest finalist who landed 540s and every transfer he attempted. Fifteen-year-old Rian Arnold of Australia won the gold and stole the show. “I didn’t expect to win since my first run wasn’t so good. I upped the ante in my second run and think the 450 rotation did the trick,” Arnold said of his win. “I’m extremely excited, but now ready to go home and rest.” Sven Boekhorst was only ¼ of a point behind to take home silver.

Moto X

Although the Moto X element to Asian X Games is not a competition, the three pro riders performed as if they were out for gold. The team of Jeremy Carter, Jesse Olson and Niki Danielson put on a great show for the people of Korea. All the way from superman seat grabs to indy airs and to Danielson’s multiple backflips, the fans received a show they will never forget.

The Asian X Games 2005 presented by Kia will take place from May 26-29 in Seoul, Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul Sports Complex. Competitions by some of the best action sports athletes in the world will awe spectators with amazing talent and creativity as they showcase their skill and artistry in performing gravity-defying tricks.

The Asian X Games 2005 presented by Kia enjoys high-level sponsorship and organizational support from presenting sponsor and official automobile KIA Motors, Official Host Seoul City Government and Korea National Tourism Organization, Official Broadcaster and Co-Organizer MBC ESPN and Official Video Game EA Sports.

X Games is promoted and organized in Asia by ESPN International and with the cooperation of ESPN STAR Sports.

For media to download photos from the event, log on to www.espneventmedia.com.

For the general public to get information on the event, log on to www.asianxgames.com.

Contact:International media: Fauziah Hanim, ESPN STAR Sports, Fauziah@espnstarsports.com

Korea media: Shannon Jeon, KPR & Associates,Shannon@kpr.co.kr

ESPN/ Athlete Contact: Katie Moses Swope , ESPN Original Entertainment

Katie.moses@espn.com

웹사이트: http://www.mbcespn.com