Men's Skateboard Big Air Finals
Rank Athlete Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Run 5 Score
1. Danny Way 1.00 47.75 1.00 94.75 1.00 94.75
2. Pierre-Luc Gagnon 92.00 1.00 94.00 1.00 1.00 94.00
3. Andy MacDonald 1.00 1.00 90.25 90.25 92.75 92.75
4. Bucky Lasek 1.00 87.50 39.75 1.00 1.00 87.50
5. Rob Lorifice 40.76 85.50 1.00 1.00 1.00 85.50
6. Bob Burnquist 41.75 1.00 1.00 46.25 47.00 47.00

*Indicates advanced to Big Air Finals.

Men's Skateboard Big Air Selection Session
Rank Athlete Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Score
1.* Bob Burnquist 86.50 87.75 42.75 88.25 88.25
2.* Bucky Lasek 86.50 40.00 40.00 40.75 86.50
3.* Rob Lorifice 85.50 40.75 1.00 1.00 85.50
4. Jake Brown 83.75 85.25 1.00 1.00 85.25
5. Buster Halterman 36.25 81.00 41.25 1.00 81..0
6. Omar Hassan 1.00 1.00 37.50 1.00 37.50
7. Jason Ellis 35.25 36.25 1.00 1.00 36.25
8. Rune Glifberg 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00


Rules/Scoring: In the Selection Session, eight skaters will each take four jumps vying for three spots in the Finals where they will meet last year's top three finishers - Danny Way, Pierre- Luc Gagnon and Andy MacDonald. In the Finals, each of the six skaters takes five jumps. The highest score wins. This competition is not timed and is judged on style, creativity and amplitude.


After seeing Danny Way bail his first three runs on Sunday, it would be understandable if the capacity crowd at the second X Games Big Air event was worried. Confused, even. After all, the idea that Way might not take a second gold—or even podium—in the event he helped create for the 2004 X Games seemed almost unthinkable last month as the 31-year-old was soaring over the Great Wall of China. Still, with his recent ankle injuries taking an obvious toll, it was a near-miracle that Danny was one of the six-pack competing at all.

But just as everyone had come to grips with Way's mortality, his spectacular fourth run reminded everyone at the Staples Center why the world-record holder is one of the few men who rides as a god on a skateboard. The run rocketed Danny from fifth to first place, thanks to a 70-plus foot frontside 360 into a Christ air near the 20-foot range. The combination launched him a full 50 feet in the air.

This man no longer functions on air, food and water. He is a machine. He runs on skateboarding. D. Way.

Up until Way's fourth run, Vert gold medalist Pierre-Luc Gagnon had been sitting pretty in first place. With his dad cheering him on, he'd blasted 360s over the big gap into 21-foot methods and one-footed Japan air. Meanwhile, Danny hadn't completed a run. But once Danny nailed that fourth run, all hope of Gagnon adding a second gold to his X Games take were shattered. Instead, the event became a battle for second between PLG (who hit the 70-footer for the first time the morning of the competition) and Andy Mac (who started skating it the day before).

Mac, the only skater to land three of the five runs today, briefly threatened to end PLG's silver streak in the event. But when the dust cleared, his backside 360 judo air and a "thread the needle" in the 14-foot range (a Saran-Wrap-esque trick he invented) over the big gap weren't enough, and Mac had to settle for bronze. PLG won silver, his third medal of the Games.

Neither was too concerned with missing out on the gold, however. Both were just stoked that they had conquered the 70-foot gap and were looking forward to next year. "We're only scratching the surface," said Andy. "

PLG launches for medal number three. Maybe next year, it will be his face painted on a 50-foot candle.

Despite scoring his second straight Big Air gold, Way was less impressed with his performance than most of the fans in the audience. "I wasn't completely on my game today," he said afterward. "But once I figured out that I could skate, I just wanted to make a run regardless of where I placed."

Mission accomplished.

Notes

  • Bob Burnquist backside kickflipped the 50-foot gap, then injured his leg and couldn't walk when he slammed on his cab fingerflip. He still skated his final run, a hero to all.

  • At 17, Rob Lorifice is the youngest competitor in Big Air. He landed a varial frontside 360 into a varial indy 360 over the 50-foot gap.

  • Bucky took fourth with his frontside 360 over the 50-foot gap into a frontside heelflip in the 14-foot range.

  • After the event, Danny and Bob headed to the X Fest to jam with Spearhead.

  • Danny Way re-injured his ankle, which is sprained and broken, on Tuesday and stayed off his board and in ice until the finals.

    Danny has a cankle the size of the Great Wall, but that didn't stop this guy.

    Quotes

  • "I'm in charge of the PLG fanclub!"—PLG's dad

  • "Did you ever see six guys with so many friends and family?"—Random industry member on the number of people in the VIP viewing area.

  • "That dude is the future."—Random industry person on 17-year-old Rob Lorifice

  • "Winning this is kind of surreal. Once I hurt myself in China I was thinking, 'There goes the X Games.' "—Danny Way

  • "I wanna go fishing."—Danny Way after winning the gold medal

  • "It's gonna be all blinged out. I'll give Colin McKay and Rob Dyrdek the task of designing it."—Danny Way on the custom cane he wants to replace his $25 Savon "mermaid" cane

  • "If I took this tape and cast off and you guys could see my ankle, you'd be amazed that I even skated today. There was no feeling in my foot today and it was a gamble."—Danny Way

  • "I'd say more like an astronaut."—Andy Mac when asked if skating the Mega-Ramp felt like "soaring like a bird."

  • "That cane is all for show."—Andy Mac to Danny Way


    • Notes

  • Skateboard Big Air launched Saturday with a Selection Session. Eight riders competed for three open slots in Sunday's Big Air finals. Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek and Rob Lorifice advanced.

  • Riders could choose between two ramps: a roll-in of about 80 feet to a 70 foot 3 inch gap, or a roll-in of about 65 feet to a 60 foot 9 inch gap. Both ramps kicked to a 27-foot 3-inch quarter-pipe.

  • Of course, the top three finishers from 2004 (Danny Way, PLG and Andy Mac) automatically earned golden tickets for Sunday's finals.

  • Each rider was given four tries at making the cut.

  • Lorifice, a newcomer to Big Air, landed a varial frontside 360 over the gap into a varial indy 360.

  • Bob Burnquist broke a truck on his first run and quickly made a pit stop. Following the repair, he landed switch backside 180s over the gap, a 16-foot indy to fakie and a frontside fingerflip air.

  • Other than trying the big gap for the first time in his life, Bucky's frontside 360s over the small gap and 15-foot frontside locked him into second place.

  • Although he didn't make the cut, Jake Brown busted 14-foot 540s with ease.

  • Danny Way watched the Session with son Tavin from a tent at the base, his foot in a bucket of ice. He broke his ankle just before jumping the Great Wall in China in early July, then re-injured it when he decked on the quarterpipe earlier this week.

  • Skate veteran Buster Halterman courted the crowd with a backside 360 one foot over the small gap and kickflip indys in the 14-foot range.


    Quotes

  • "He's at the hotel chillin'."—Colin McKay, when asked how his dog, Reggie was doing.

  • "That looks nasty!"—Andy Mac, while looking at Danny Way's ankle

  • "I was just jumping across it, there was going to be no grabbing involved. That's the first time I have ever gone that fast on a skateboard, the largest gap I have ever tried and the fastest knee slide I've ever done."—Bucky Lasek regarding his attempt at the big gap.