Barcelona, Spain – International competition gets underway today at the Olympic
Pier in Barcelona as the European X Games Qualifier II (EXQ) returns to the
city. After a successful event last year where more than 37,000 spectators
showed their support, today kicked off competition with more than 5,100
Barcelonans welcoming the EXQ back to their city. Most of the morning allowed
time for athlete practice giving the competitors a chance to get acclimated with
the courses. One final was completed in the late afternoon for Bicycle Stunt
Flatland, where two competitors advanced to X Games VIII in Philadelphia, USA,
including Spain's own Jorge Gomez who will make his second X Games appearance.
Barcelona will gather more than 250 of Europe's leading action sport athletes
competing in Bicycle Stunt, Skateboarding and Aggressive In-line Skating. Up
for grabs is prize money, medals and a spot to the invitation-only X Games VIII
in August. The three-day event welcomes invited athletes from more than 20
European countries including Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The
free-event continues through Sunday, July 21st.
Bicycle Stunt flatland preliminary and final rounds were held today, the first
competition of the EXQ. Today's contest proved that on any given day, the title
belongs to anyone. At the end of the preliminaries, Jorge Gomez landed a
seventh place finish going into the finals. Gomez withstood the pressure of his
fellow competitors, put on his walk-man and did not disappoint his Spanish fans.
Today Gomez took home the gold and a big smile. "I am so excited to be here in
Spain, again, and win for this crowd," Gomez said about his win. Last year at
the first EXQ, Gomez won gold and a spot to his first X Games. This year going
into the EXQ, Gomez had previously qualified for X Games VIII at the
Invitational in Atlanta, GA, USA. The returning X Games champion, Martti Kuoppa
of Helsinki Finland, kept a large lead through both runs of the preliminaries
and went into the finals today in the number one spot. After a competitive,
close final, Kuoppa was satisfied with a fifth place finish. The two X Games
VIII invitations went to Alex Jumelin of Paris, France and Effraim Catlow of
Southsea, England who finished in today's final fourth and fifth, respectively.
Both athletes have had previous X Games appearances.
Aggressive In-line Skating preliminary rounds started today on the vert ramp
with a full field of International athletes totaling twenty-one. The Spanish
skaters represented a solid portion of the top ten. Borja Fernandez of Bilbao,
Spain pulled a strong first run to land 4th place. The top three skaters going
into the finals are no strangers to the X Games. Last year's X Games champion,
Taig Kris of Paris France, skated two surprising strong runs to earn a third
place finish. Local skater, Nel Martin pulled huge airs and a series of clean
technical tricks to finish in the 2nd place spot going into tomorrow's final.
And once again, the perfect flow and grace of Holland's Sven Boekhurst launched
him into the top qualifying position.
Related Photos:
Barcelona Day One Gallery
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