Osiris Blog

Taka Higashino, Jeff “Ox” Kargola, Clinton Moore, Jarryd McNeil and Rich Kearns represented Osiris last night in front of a packed Staples Center at Summer X Games 16 Best Trick, Whip and Step Up competitions.

Jeff “Ox” Kargola was boosting over the bar with ease, and looked to be a serious contender for gold. While the getting over the bar was easy for Ox, landing the step up jump got the best of him. At 29 feet 6 inches Ox was eliminated, but he had a lot of fun and put on a great show for the fans. Ox is set to compete again on Sunday in Speed and Style where he is sure to be a threat because he has plenty of both.

Taka Higashino elevated flip tricks to the next level in Best Trick when he unleashed the first ever “Double Grab Indian Air Flip.” The extension of the trick was amazing which earned him his first ever X Games medal finishing in third. Taka’s trick was the only back flip trick variation to finish in a medal position. Congratulations Taka!

Clint Moore made his first X Games appearances in Best Trick. Moore finished 4th in Best Trick with his own variation of the “Volt” body varial. Unlike other riders who have completed this trick, Moore first grabs back on to his seat instead of going straight for the bars.

Rich Kearns finished 6th in best trick with a massive “Paris Hilton” flip.

Jarryd McNeil was throwing massive inverted whips and backwards in Best Whip where he finished second grabbing the silver medal.

PLG killed it tonight. After winning gold in vert, he took on best trick and pulled a nollie varial heel 540 indy grab winning yet another gold. Unstoppable.

Taken from the ESPN site.

Despite Hollywood-level hype around Shaun White’s return to skateboard competition Friday night at the Nokia Theater, it was two-time and defending Skate Vert champion Pierre-Luc Gagnon who did what skateboard insiders figured he would all along: win the first ever Vert three-peat in X Games history.

Gagnon, a relentlessly technical skater known for composing entire runs of tricks that many of his competitors can’t even do, was initially put in a corner by White, who threw the first stellar run of the evening on his fourth attempt of the final jam session. In a run peppered with back-to-back 540 variations, he ended with a frontside heelflip 540 body varial — a trick never seen at X Games. The run scored a 44 to put White in the lead.

It was in the fifth round of runs that Gagnon, who had already garnered a 47 in his fourth run, put the hammer down. In a run that included a variety of 540s, he not only included a 720 kickflip body varial; he adjusted the board in mid-air just microseconds before returning to the transition, saving what appeared to be a certain crash. The run earned him a 46, for a total of 93 point — eight ahead of White.

Needing a near-perfect 49 to retake the lead, and with the clock on the jam session ticking down, White dropped in one last time, but failed to complete his run.

“I felt really good in practice, nailing it every try” Gagnon said afterward, of the trick that earned him the win. “I knew it didn’t matter if I didn’t make the first few, but I’m super psyched I pulled it off.”

The medal is Gagnon’s sixth gold and fifteenth overall.