Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The second day of international competition continued today with exceptional riding and skating on the beach of Aterro do Flamengo. Three contests today allowed competitors one chance at an invitation to X Games VIII in Philadelphia, USA. The Latin American X Games Qualifier (LXQ) has gathered more than 200 of the region`s leading action sports athletes to compete for prize money, medals and a chance to show the world their talent and skills in their respective sports. Athletes will compete in four sport categories of Skateboarding, Bicycle Stunt, Aggressive In-line Skating and Wakeboarding. Competition continues through Sunday, March 24th.

Bicycle Stunt held the first preliminary contest of the day in the Flatland competition where Brazil`s own Marcos Paulo de Jesus moved his way to a distant first place position after scoring six points higher than Leonardo da Silva Claro who finished with a score of 83.75 going into tomorrow`s final. Practice for the Bicycle Stunt vert took place today with the final scheduled for tomorrow.

Skateboarding and Wakeboarding conducted successful practices today through the inclement weather. The Skateboarding practice today could have been mistaken for a final contest as the enthusiastic crowds filled the stands and surrounded any open space around the halfpipe. With every skateboader announced, the spectators got louder. Brazilian hero and skateboarding legend, Bob Burnquist of Sao Paulo, pleased his fans with a surprise drop-in on the pipe as crowds chanted, "Bob. Bob. Bob." After his run, Burnquist spent quality time conversing and signing autographs with his Brazilian friends. Local favorite, Sandro Dias, took to the halfpipe like a superstar and entertained the fans until the sun went down. Skateboarding vert prelims and Wakeboarding round one are scheduled for tomorrow. The Wakeboarding competition will be held at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas in Rio de Janeiro.

Aggressive In-line Skating held its` preliminary competition on the park course today with 44 competitors judged on an average of 2 runs. Due to sporadic rainstorms, 38 athletes were able to skate today. The remaining 6 competitors will finish their 2nd runs tomorrow. The world`s top ranked female skater and Sao Paulo native, Fabiola da Silva, skated her first run, but because of a fall, withdrew from her 2nd run. "I´m going to rest and get prepared for Sunday's vert competition," said da Silva, who has won an X Games vert competition medal every year since 1996.

ESPN and Globo have become partners in televising the first-ever Latin American X Games Qualifier. ESPN International, which has staged X Games-related events outside of the United States since 1996, will be the primary organizer of the competition. Globo will televise a minimum of three hours of the event live during its` "Sports Spectacular" program on Sunday, March 24th. Five hours of original programming will be televises on ESPN Brazil, ESPN2, Globo Programming and ESPN International networks around the world.

The LXQ I welcomes adidas, Mastercard and timnet as Gold Sponsors for the first-ever Latin American X Games Qualifier.

Wihin the last 12 months, more than a dozen X Games-related events have been staged around the world, including X Games Qualifiers in Barcelona, Thailand, Asian Xtour and a first-time visit to China.

For further information, including event schedules and athlete bios, log onto www.latinamericanxgames.com. For related press releases and digital images, log onto www.espneventmedia.com

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