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> News > X Games Aspen 2020 Day One: Scotty James & Miyabi Onitsuka take home gold

snowboarding News

X Games Aspen 2020 Day One: Scotty James & Miyabi Onitsuka take home gold

Scotty James (AUS) wins Monster Energy Men's Snowboard SuperPipe at X Games Aspen 2020, at Buttermilk Mountain, Aspen, Colorado, USA, January 23. Image credit: / Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images

24 January 2020

X Games Aspen 2020 kicked off Thursday night at Buttermilk mountain in Aspen Snowmass, Colorado, where day one of the 24th edition of the X Games winter event began with a few eliminations and closed out with the first-ever Ski Knuckle Huck, Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe and Pacifico Women’s Big Air.

The first event of the day was Special Olympic Unified Snowboarding, where defending champions Henry Meece and Chris Klug were finally dethroned after five years. X Games legend Mike Schultz and ESPN talent Daina Shilts took home gold, while Danny Davis and Dmitrii Tiufiakov took silver and host of X Games Jack Mitrani and Meece took bronze. Immediately following was the first-ever Special Olympics Unified Skiing event at X Games Aspen, in which Gus Kenworthy and Palmer Lyons took gold.

Next up was the first event on the Jeep Slopestyle course, Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Elimination. Originally a first alternate, Brock Crouch took the top spot with a tricks that included a pole jam up 180, switch 50-50 and cab 360 out on the rails, a switchback 1080 double and a cab 1260 on the jumps. Judged on overall impression with a new jam session format, Judd Henkes, Red Gerard, Darcy Sharpe and Sven Thorgren also qualified for the final, which takes place on Saturday afternoon.

The other Elimination of the day was The Real Cost Men’s Ski Big Air. Featuring athletes from seven different countries, Finnish skier Elias Syrja took the top spot, followed by Antoine Adelisse, Christian Nummedal, Henrik Harlaut and Andri Ragletti moved onto the final. No one from France or Finland has won gold in this discipline, so Syrja, whose best tricks included a switch triple cork 1440, and Adelisse could be the first.

X Games rookie Colby Stevenson won the first ever Ski Knuckle Huck, who was in the top spot for the entire duration of the 20-minute jam session that was scored based on overall impression.

Scotty James defended his gold medal in Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe, marking his 10th straight competition win and remaining undefeated since the start of the 2018/19 season. James’ tricks included a switch backside double 1260, cab 1080, frontside 900 grabbing nose and a double backside 1260. Just like last year, James used his victory lap to high-five fans along the deck of the SuperPipe. Yuto Totsuka took silver once again and Swiss rider Jan Scherrer earned his first X Games medal with bronze.

Japanese riders swept the podium in the Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air, where X Games rookie Miyabi Onitsuka took gold, Kokomo Murase took silver and Reira Iwabuchi took bronze. Onitsuka threw down a few runs in the jam session format that included a double backside rodeo, a frontside 1080 and a backside 1080 double cork.

X Games Aspen continues tomorrow with Jeep Men’s Ski Slopestyle Elimination, The Real Cost Men’s Snowboard Big Air Elimination, Snowmobile Freestyle, Women’s Ski Big Air, Great Clips Men’s Ski SuperPipe Elimination, The Real Cost Men’s Ski Big Air and SuperPipe Session. Following competition, hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd kicks off three days of music on the GEICO stage. Schedules and TV listings available at XGames.com.

Results

Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding

1. Schultz - Shilts 35.76

2. Davis - Tiufiakov 36.02

3. Mitrani - Meece 36.04

4. Teter - Hollister 37.05

5. Pearce - Field 38.21

6. Lago - Wernli 40.40

7. Bleiler - Jarmolinski 42.00

8. Gasser - Burger 43.57

9. Klug - Pringle 43.63

10. Murase - Ikemoto 47.79

Gold - Mike Schultz & Daina Shilts

Silver - Danny Davis & Demitri Tiufiakov

Bronze - Jack Mitrani & Henry Meece

Special Olympics Unified Skiing

1. Kenworthy - Lyons 31.23

2. Ferreira - Pranger 32.83

3. Hoefflin - Von Eschen 34.71

4. Wise - Carlson 35.10

5. Sharpe - Leonard 42.64

6. Voisin - Zitek 43.17

Gold - Gus Kenworthy & Palmer Lyons

Silver - Alex Ferreira & Haldan Pranger

Bronze - Sarah Hoefflin & Kohlor Von Eschen

Jeep Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Elimination

1. Brock Crouch (USA)

2. Judd Henkes (USA)

3. Red Gerard (USA)

4. Darcy Sharpe (CAN)

5. Sven Thorgren (SWE)

6. Stale Sandbech (NOR)

7. Yuki Kadono (JPN)

8. Fridtjof Saether Tischendorf (NOR)

9. Luke Winkelmann (USA)

10. Sebbe De Buck (BEL)

11. Lyon Farrell (USA)

12. Mikey Ciccarelli (CAN)

13. Max Parrot (CAN)

14. Sebastien Toutant (CAN)

15. Chris Corning (USA)

16. Torgeir Bergrem (NOR)

The Real Cost Men’s Ski Big Air

1. Elias Syrja (FIN)

2. Antoine Adelisse (FRA)

3. Christian Nummedal (NOR)

4. Henrik Harlaut (SWE)

5. Andri Ragletti (SUI)

6. Alex Hall (USA)

7. Fabian Boesch (SUI)

8. Jesper Tjader (SWE)

9. Teal Harle (CAN)

Ski Knuckle Huck

Gold - Colby Stevenson (USA)

Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe

1. Scotty James (AUS)

2. Yuto Totsuka (JPN)

3. Jan Scherrer (SUI)

4. Chase Josey (USA)

5. Danny Davis (USA)

6. Taylor Gold (USA)

7. Toby Miller (USA)

8. Chase Blackwell (USA)

Gold - Scotty James

Silver - Yuto Totsuka

Bronze - Jan Scherrer

Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air

1. Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN)

2. Kokomo Murase (JPN)

3. Reira Iwabuchi (JPN)

4. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL)

5. Laurie Blouin (CAN)

6. Klaudia Medlova (SVK)

7. Jamie Anderson (USA)

8. Anna Gasser (AUT)

Gold - Miyabi Onitsuka

Silver - Kokomo Murase

Bronze - Reira Iwabuchi

Quotables

Daina Shilts, Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding gold medalist

“After six years I finally got it, I finally..oh my gosh, my adrenaline is so high right now. I’m shaking so bad, I’ve worked to get this to this spot but in the end, it's not about finishing first, it's about finishing having fun.”

Alex Ferreira, Special Olympics Unified Skiing gold medalist

“I’m just happy to be here, it's such a great event, why wouldn’t they do it for skiing?!”

Scotty James, Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe gold medalist

“It never gets old, that feeling is unbelievable and to do it here at X Games is very, very special to me. I mean, X Games is a pinnacle for us and I dreamt of getting one X Games medal and now I’m adding another to my collection, so I’m absolutely pumped."

Jan Scherrer, Monster Energy Men’s Snowboard SuperPipe bronze medalist

“Winning a medal at X Games is pretty much a dream of every competition rider. I’ve been riding for so many years, this is like a victory come true!”

Go to www.xgames.com for additional information X Games Aspen 2020.

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To find out more about the X Games, please follow this link.