2009 is sure to be a momentous year at the ESPN X Games. Not only will the competition showcase the sharp skills and intense fire of action sports stars like Elissa Steamer, Ashley Fiolek and Lyn-z Adams Hawkins, but those women will also be battling for prize money equal to that of the men’s winners. In October of 2008, ESPN announced that it would be offering equal awards for male and female winners at all X Games competitions, both summer and winter events. The athletes at Winter X 2009 took advantage of this great advancement in January. Read on to see how the stars of Summer X fared:
X Games rookie Fiolek becomes first deaf X Games champ in history:
2008 saw the first contesting of women’s Super X at the X Games, but 18-year old Ashley Fiolek was forced to sit out due to an injury suffered in a practice run. On Saturday in Los Angeles however, the young deaf rider from Florida wouldn’t let her second chance pass her by. Fiolek became the first deaf gold medalist in X Games history, beating a field of seasoned riders for the win. Fiolek, who was born completely deaf and rides by feeling the vibrations of her bike, rode on Jessica Patterson's heels throughout the entire race. With a masterful pass in the final lap, Fiolek went from X Games rookie to X Games hero in a matter of seconds.
“I can’t believe that I’m here,” said Fiolek. “The X Games is a big deal for women to come here. I’m very excited I won and had a lot of fun. It’s great that ESPN has added women racing.”
Patterson, a 27-time national champion, acknowledged mistakes that cost her the race. “I knew she was close and that it was going to be a battle with the slick track,” she admitted. “I made little mistakes. I thought jumping the finish line jump was faster, but that’s where she passed me.”
Fiolek’s fellow X Games rookie, Elizabeth Bash, walked away with the bronze.
Watch: Fiolek defies odds to win first X Games gold
Adams Hawkins pulls big win in vert finals:
It was a big night for skater Lyn-z Adams Hawkins on Thursday in Los Angeles, as she attempted to pull off a never-before-landed trick for the win in the women’s skate vert finals at X Games 15. During the 30-minute jam session, Adams Hawkins became the only woman to ever attempt the trick of an inverted 540 in competition, nicknamed the McTwisty.
Her efforts, which also included landing a kickflip indy, did not go unrewarded--- Adams Hawkins won her third gold at X Games. She was followed by last year’s winner Karen Jonz, who earned the silver with her showing not only the kickflip indy, but a solid stalefish and a finger flip indy. High school student Gabby Ponce claimed the bronze.
Adams Hawkins was elated with her third gold, promising to bring even more heat to next year’s X Games. “We’re all really pushing each other right now,” she told reporters after the big win. “I’m not even going to be able to snowboard this winter, because I’m going to have to skateboard all year round so I can practice and stick even more tricks next year at X Games’ sweet sixteen."
Watch: Adams Hawkins's gold-medal winning highlights from X Games 15Win up for grabs in women’s street finals:
First place in the X Games Skateboarding Street Women’s finals was anybody’s guess yesterday in Los Angeles, when skaters Elissa Steamer, Marisa Dal Santo, Lacey Baker and Alexis Sablone traded spots on the leader board after almost every run. Dal Santo and Sablone went move-for-move in the first of the three-session competition, each pulling away with a score of 135. But Sablone weakened in the second round, and Dal Santo remained consistent to score her second X Games gold medal. Sablone settled for silver with a final score of 353.0. Steamer, who took gold at last year’s X Games and is considered a pioneer in women’s skateboarding, finished third, and scored a final 350.0 points.
Dal Santo, a Chicago-native, told reporters her confident and relaxed state of mind helped her win the gold. "Just do what I do," she said. "They're all my friends and they're all real good. It's kind of a lot of pressure. But I just did what I knew I could land, and stuff that wasn't too out of reach for me."