X Games Minneapolis 2019 Day 2 Highlights

Two days are in the books at X Games Minneapolis 2019 and Monster Energy athletes continued mining for medals on Friday across skate and motocross disciplines. In the most progressive Women’s Skateboard Park final of all time, Lizzie Armanto took home bronze. 

Closing out an action-packed day at U.S. Bank Stadium, Josh Sheehan and Jackson Strong claimed silver and bronze, respectively, in the high-octane Moto X Freestyle final. Here’s how it all went down in the Twin Cities on day two of Summer X Games 2019.

Supported by Monster Energy as the official drink sponsor for the sixth consecutive year, X Games Minneapolis is a four-day celebration of all things action sports and music. On day two, crowds of fans packed into U.S. Bank Stadium for BMX, skateboard and motocross events, plus immersive experiences in the X Fest village. 

Rounding out an amazing day at X Games were musical performances by resident Minneapolis hip-hop artist P.O.S and legendary Wu-Tang Clan at The Armory music venue.

The day’s action sports events kicked off with a record-setting Women’s Skateboard Park final. In the youngest field to ever compete in the discipline – including 10-year-old silver medalist Cocona Hiraki from Japan – Monster Energy’s Lizzie Armanto proved why she ranges among the top innovators of the sport.

After battling through the highly competitive semifinal, the 26-year-old from Santa Monica took the bronze medal on the strength of her eye for creative lines and transfers, as well as the day’s most varied trick selection: Highlights such as gap to eggplant from the deep end, frontside invert, gap to boardslide over the hip, and tweaked crossbone air over the centerpiece pyramid earned the skateboard park veteran her third career X Games medal.

Unfortunately, disaster struck in the high-pressure BMX Big Air final. Struggling to put down a perfect run, Monster Energy’s James Foster found himself left with one final attempt to take home a medal.

He succeeded in sending an ultra-technical triple tailwhip backflip across the 60-foot gap but was thrown off his bike upon takeoff on the massive quarterpipe, falling all the way to the flat from a great height. We wish James a speedy recovery and will include an update on his condition in our X Games coverage.

Closing out on an eventful day at X Games Minneapolis 2019, Moto X Freestyle showcased the insane level of progression in the sport in a heavy six-rider final. When all was said and done, Australian riders swept the entire podium, with Monster Energy’s Josh Sheehan and Jackson Strong taking home silver and bronze, respectively.

After closely missing the podium in Minneapolis last year, Sheehan was back with a vengeance. His milestone-heavy runs included bangers such as double backflip, no-footed nac nac Indy, seat grab 360 flip, Kiss of Death backflip, backflip one-hand to double grab double and backflip no hander. He commanded first place with a strong 90.00-point score but was bumped to second place by fellow Australian Rob Adelberg on his final attempt.

Rounding out an all-Aussie Moto X Freestyle podium, Strong rocked the crowd with technical runs including heavy frontflip variations for a strong bronze medal finish. Jacko’s highest-scoring run featured state-of-the-art moves like frontflip no-hander, double backflip, backflip cliff hanger, frontflip nac nac, and backflip one-handed Indy.

Both Sheehan and Strong claimed their ninth career X Games medals and will also be gunning for gold in Saturday’s Monster Energy Moto X Best Trick, where Strong is a fan favorite.

On that note, stay tuned for more! The world’s premier action sports spectacle continues on Saturday with Monster Energy Moto X Best Trick, Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street, Men's BMX Park, The Real Cost Skateboard Big Air, Adaptive Skateboard Park, BMX Street, The Real Cost BMX Dirt, and Moto X Best Whip