Bob Burnquist claims Skateboard Big Air gold at 2012 X Games L.A.

Brazil’s Bob Burnquist added another X Games gold medal to his collection after putting on a superb performance to emerge triumphant in Skateboard Big Air Final that went down outside of STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Friday, June 29.

America’s Mitchie Brusco finished just behind Burnquist in second place to take home the silver medal for his effort, while his fellow countryperson Nolan Munroe finished third to complete the podium.

With the legendary pro skater Tony Hawk taking a seat in the commenter booth, the Final of the Big Air event got underway. Six skaters, comprising of both seasoned as well as young talent, got ready to square off on what is considered to be, and rightly so, the biggest stage of action sports. The desire to stand atop the podium was something that was bound to bring out the best in all six skaters.

Burnquist’s presence in the Final was an achievement for the skater in itself as he was seen stretched off to the hospital after taking a hard fall during Big Air practice on Tuesday, though thankfully it did not turn out to be anything too serious.

The 35-year-old Rio De Janeiro-based skater wasted absolutely no time to make everyone forget about the incident that transgressed on Tuesday by putting on a phenomenal run. He stamped his authority in the contest with a run that featured a switch back-side 180 ollie over the 65-foot gap and followed it up with a forward-to-fake indy grab 720 on the 27-foot quarter-pipe to earn an average score of 94.33 from the judges. The score held up until the end to seal the fate of the Big Air Final in his favour.

“The slam on Tuesday was just too much,” Burnquist said after the final. “I hit so hard I didn’t even think I’d be able to walk today. I just can’t believe I’m skating: That was one of the most painful sessions I’ve ever had. I’m just so thankful I was able to land that trick. I can’t believe it.”

Brusco was nothing short of exquisite during the fight for a podium-place on Friday. The 15-year-old Californian pulled off a 720 grab over the smaller 50-foot gap and backed it up with a massive 900 to earn his best-score of 93.00.

Making his Big Air debut, the 19-year-old Munroe managed to get hold of the bronze medal after bumping two-time gold medallist Jake Brown from Australia off the podium with a huge McTwist 540 that helped him in securing a score of 91.00.

Brazil’s Rony Gomes earned the same best score of 90.00 as Brown, but had to settle for fifth place during to a lower second-best score of 86.66 against his rival’s 90.00.

America’s Tom Schaar had a lot of hype surrounding him during his X Games debut. The 12-year-old skater had managed to successfully pull off a clean 1080 in April. However, he finished sixth in Friday’s Big Air Finals after earning a best score of 89.33. It would be interesting to see what Schaar manages to do in his sophomore year at X Games.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Jul 2 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.