Barcelona, Spain-Day two got underway today with another sunny day at the Olympic Pier as 11,500 spectators came out for the first European X Games Qualifier for 2001. The best action sport athletes in Europe have been invited to participate in this year's first qualifier in Barcelona with hopes of winning more than $100,000 in prize money and, more importantly, the chance to qualify for ESPN´s premiere event, the Summer X Games in Philadelphia, USA.

In the Bicycle Stunt competition today ten riders took the course for the Park finals. After a competitive preliminaries yesterday, the athletes knew that the gold medal could belong to anyone of them today. The gold went to the number one seed, Alistair Whitten, who maintained his first place status by utilizing the entire course aggressively and throwing out huge airs despite the high winds. Placing second after preliminaries, Spain's Ruben Alcantara, also maintained his position as he made Spain proud with a silver. Both Whitten and Alcantara will meet on the course again in Philadelphia as they won spots today for the ESPN Summer X Games.

Wakeboarding concluded today and in a very tight final they gave the gold to Rodo Vinh-Tung of France, because he went bigger than his two closest competitors. The top spot could have gone to any of the top three. Each of them stepped it up for the finals. They all pulled technically difficult tricks in their final runs and each of them had one fall. Roy Francois, who took second, pulled a Moby Dick (tantrum with a blindside 360) and a tootsie roll (front roll with a blind 1809). Nick Heaney, who placed third, had a run that was significant because he accomplished a personal first when he hit a blind 540 off the double up. Riding as the last competitor of the contest did not intimidate Rodo who made his point by nailing a massive S-Bend, a big batwing (frontside raley with an indy grab), a whirly bird (tantrum with a fully inverted 360 spin) and a 540 rewind 180. His fall came on an attempted 720 on the double up. Regarding the contest, Rodo said, "I´ll just try to keep on training hard because the guys in the states really stand out. (I'll) try to go bigger and try to work on some new tricks." Only one rider here in Barcelona qualified for this year's X Games in Philly.

Aggressive In-line Skating began today with the Vert competition and France´s Taig Khris who qualified first going into the finals, kept his lead by a wide margin with his high aerials and strong runs to grab the gold. Performing for his hometown crowd, Barcelona´s Nel Martin kept his 2nd place standings to claim silver. Close behind Martin with a mere two-tenths of a point difference, Sven Boekhorst took home to Holland a bronze.

Athlete Pro Demo Jamie Bestwick, the world's top ranked bicycle stunt rider today, has visited Barcelona to put on a show for its fans. He will not compete, but will be here all weekend to perform on the vert for Barcelona. Bucky Lasek, skateboarding icon and X Games Champion, will also be at the European Qualifier to perform with Bestwick all weekend. Other pros who will be showcasing their talent are: Jay Miron, Canada; Dave Osato, Canada; Taig Khris, France; Max Dufour, Canada; Bruce Crisman, United States. The debut of the X Games Qualifier in Europe, sponsored by Adidas, is a chief component of ESPN's plan for major year-round global expansion of its X Games franchise. Over the next 12 months, more than a dozen X Games-related events will be staged on five different continents, including X Games Qualifiers, Junior X Games, the Asian X Tour, the X Games and Winter X Games.

The Barcelona X Games will be televised on both ESPN International worldwide, ESPN2 and Eurosport. All competition will conclude tomorrow. For further information, on all X Games events, log on to www.expn.com. The seventh annual ESPN X Games will take place in Philadelphia, PA, USA from August 17-22, 2001. ESPN X Games has become the world´s premiere action sporting event since its´ inception in 1995. All X Games coverage will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN International and ABC Sports.

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