Nyjah and Trey Take GOLD at XGames

But before we dive into the action, major props are due to the fantastic crowd in Shanghai this weekend. Spectators showed up in large numbers to experience the unique mixture of action sports, music and youth culture at the festival village inside the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone.Both skate events were at max attendance and the high-energy crowd celebrated every run with genuine excitement.

The level of competition was intense in Men’s Skateboard Street, as the final ten skaters worked the concrete street course with three runs each. The course design favored speed and flow. Lined by banks, quarterpipes and flat rails on the perimeter, it featured an octagonal centerpiece stage with large stair sets, handrails, and a huge kicker stylized as a Chinese Dragon for big stunts.

Nyjah Huston came in as the defending gold medalist but suffered a harsh setback right on his first run. A heavy slam on a large rail trick left the champ visibly limping. As the rest of the field started stacking scores, Nyjah came close but did not get that perfect run he wanted on his second attempt. With Japan’s Yuto Horigome and Arizona’s Dashawn Jordan taking the top spots, it all came down to Nyjah’s third and final run of the contest.

If this type of back-to-the-wall situation sounds familiar, it’s because Nyjah thrives in these high-pressure scenarios. His career is full of come-from-behind victories like his last second win ath the 2015 SLS Pro Open in Barcelona. 

Could he do it again?

Digging deep into his technical bag of tricks, the 24-year-old from Laguna Beach proceeded to send a perfect run featuringkickflip front boardslide across the centerpiece flatbar, backside overcrook the rainbow rail, kickflip backside lipslidethe Euro gap rail, 360 kickflip into the bank, ollie blunt kickflip the quarterpipe, Caballerial frontside board fakie the big rail, big spin over the kicker gap, a highly technical frontside nollieheelflip nosebluntslide the big rail and improvised big flip over the bump sealed the deal with 94.00 points and the gold medal, his tenth X Games gold. Boom!

“It’s cool to win the tenth medal in this way. Not to say that the last ones were easy, but I did win on the first or second run. The feeling of winning on that last run, especially with me being the last skater is a feeling like no other. Definitely a win to remember, I’m stoked!” said Nyjah Huston on taking Skateboard Street Gold at X Games Shanghai.

Next up, the crowds headed over to the 73-feet high Mega Ramp for the weekend’s final event: Skateboard Big Air.Starting from a 59-feet roll-in, the world’s elite Big Air skaterssent their best aerials over the kicker gap in the structure’s middle – optionally clearing a 50-feet or 63-feet gap – before finishing their runs with massive aerials on the 27-feet quarterpipe.

This was the time for Monster Energy’s Trey Wood to shine with the biggest surprise reveal of the entire contest. While he is mostly known for his Skateboard Park terrain talent these days, Trey had been putting in some Mega Ramp training sessions and came to Shanghai with a surprise move up his sleeve.

On his very first run in the finals, Trey unveiled a massive backside body varial 720 over the big gap – a trick never seen before in competition – right into an 18-feet high varial Mc Twist on the huge quarterpipe for a 90.33-point score. Stunning the rest of the field, Trey’s original trick combination held as the day’s top score until the very end.

“I had my mind set on landing my run first try and I’m super stoked I was able to do that. I’ve ridden in X Games since I was eleven years old and winning my first gold medal is a crazy experience. My mother is also here today and winning gold with her watching is the greatest feeling ever,” said Trey Wood upon winning Skateboard Big Air gold today, adding: “This year I want to keep it rolling, get some more medals and have fun skateboarding. That’s what it’s about!”

Speaking of keeping it rolling, Ishod Wair and a crew of heavy-hitting Monster Energy skateboarders will be bringing the stoke to Copenhagen, Denmark, next weekend for the annual CPH Open. Next in line are the Vans Park Series São Paulo, SLS World Tour Los Angeles and X Games Minneapolis, among other events, on what is a stacked summer for skateboarding this year. Stay tuned!

If you missed today’s live broadcast from X Games Shanghai 2019, you can watch a full replay on the official X Games YouTube channel online. Additionally, the 60-minute recap ‘Best of Skateboarding at X Games Shanghai’ will air on ABC as part of the World of X Games series on Saturday, June 22 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT.

Check out all the action from Day One - HERE!