Official report from ESPN on day 4 and the evening
of day 3 at the May 2005 Asian X Games in Seoul, Korea.
MAY 29, 2005 IN SEOUL, KOREA - More than 200 athletes from twenty-one countries say their
goodbyes and travel back to their homes after an exciting and successful
Asian X Games Presented by KIA. The event was held in Seoul, Korea for
the first time, and the welcome from the city could not have been
greater. Over the last three days of competition, more than 13,800
people came out to the1988 Olympic Sports Complex, Jamsil Gymnasium, and
gave a warm welcome to the world-class athletes. From May 26-29,
athletes competed in Aggressive In-line, Skateboard, Freestyle BMX,
Sport Climbing and Wakeboard. In addition, three Moto X athletes put on
a demo for the people of Seoul. Admission to the event was free.
"Bringing the Asian X Games to Seoul, Korea, proved that action sports
have grown to a level with such an international appeal," said Harvey
Davis, ESPN International X Games. "We are proud that twenty-one
countries, the most at any Asian X Games, were represented here in
Korea."
Skateboard
Tonight the park finals brought thousands of fans out to Jamsil
Gymnasium where ten skaters from seven different countries had one
common goal of taking home gold. After last night's prelims, USA's Chris
Senn claimed the first seed spot with Thailand's Weerayut Eksirasuwan
close behind. Senn maintained his lead in the finals, and with his first
run, claimed gold. "I like Korea. The people here are mellow, and it
made for a good first experience," Senn said about his first Asian X
Games. On Senn's second run and victory lap, he landed a high-speed
frontside, lipside down the rail and then threw in a perfect frontside
360 over the box. Japan's Daisuke Mochizuki and Australia's Shane
Wallace finished off the podium with silver and bronze, respectively.
Sport Climbing
In the women's final today, favored Korean climber, Ja-In Kim, looked as
though she may have kept her number one spot from prelims when she
started today. However, Australia's Samantha Berry had other plans. The
two climbers are very familiar with the close competition between one
another as they have met each other at the wall before with only small
margins of points separating them. "I feel fantastic about the win, but
of course I didn't expect it," Berry said of her win. "Because of the
two strong contenders Korea's Ja-In Kim and Japan's Tomoko Ogawa, who
are very experienced, I had to use my mental strength and determination
to help me clinch the gold."
For the men's final this afternoon, Korea took over the podium as the
silver and bronze medals went to Sang-Won Son and Ja-Ha Kim,
respectively. Keita Mogaki of Japan finished in the third place spot
after semi-finals, but moved his way to the gold today. Silver medalist,
Sang-Won Son, made the most dramatic move as he climbed from ninth
position in semi-finals to the number two spot closely behind the
champion. The leader after semi-finals, Jaime Amiel Pahati of the
Philippines, was barely knocked out of medal contention in today's
finals.
Aggressive In-line
In the vert final this afternoon, the crowd went crazy for the ten
finalists who did not hold anything back in their attempt of capturing
gold. The double back-flip was seen more than once in more than one
competitor. One athlete in particular had more pressure than the other
nine as Ayumi Kawasaki of Japan was the only female amongst her fellow
contenders. Her graceful style and high airs put her in a respectful
fifth place finish. Brazil's Marco Di Santi highly enjoyed his
first-ever Asian X Games with a gold medal. "This contest here in Seoul
was so good," Di Santi said about today's win. "I know most of the
competitors, but it was great to be able to skate with them in the Asian
X Games." Taig Khris of France and Sven Boekhorst of the Netherlands
rounded out the top three, respectively.
Moto X
Korea has found their new favorite sport. Thanks to Jeremy Carter, Jesse
Olson and Niki Danielson, there just might be some young new Korean
athletes who want to get on a motorcycle. The area surrounding the moto
pit was never empty when the revving of the motorcycles began. The
people of Korea were in awe all weekend long as the three moto athletes
flipped, turned and rode their way into the hearts of Seoul. The evening
ended with an official KIA Moto Jam with the riders, music and a special
entrance by the KIA Motors girls. They made their way into the pit
sitting on the back of the three motorcycles. Before his run, Jeremy
Carter screamed to the rowdy fans, "Thanks ESPN for the X Games. Thanks
KIA for having this event, and I thank you fine fans for cheering us on
all weekend."
The Asian X Games 2005 presented by Kia took place from May 26-29 in
Seoul, Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul Sports Complex.
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