X Games Events

* When/where: Thursday, best trick finals, 7-8 p.m. at Staples Center; Friday, step up finals, 7-8 p.m. at Staples Center; Saturday, freestyle finals, part one, 1:30-3 p.m., and part two, 7-8 p.m. at Home Depot Center; Sunday, supermoto, 1:30-3 p.m. at Home Depot Center.

* The competition: Supermoto has been retooled in its second year, with required pit stops adding a strategic element to the estimated 45-lap race that blends street racing and motocross. And there’s a mechanical twist: Teams are prohibited from using power tools to change tires, refuel and perform other maintenance. In best trick, competitors showcase their newest maneuvers, with the highest score of two jumps counting. Step up involves jumping over a horizontal bar at heights of at least 26 feet. Freestyle, considered the signature event of the X Games, is performed on a dirt course and features flips, spins and other aerial stunts. The top five riders from part one of the finals will advance to part two, with scoring based on overall impression, tricks, execution and use of the course and landings in two 90-second runs. Nate Adams, who last year won gold in the freestyle and silver in best trick, returns in both disciplines. Jeremy McGrath is back to defend his step up title and will look to improve upon his third-place finish in supermoto.

*--* MOTO X

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*--* SKATEBOARDING

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* When/where: Thursday, men’s street finals, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Staples Center; Friday, women’s street finals, 2-3 p.m. at Staples Center, and men’s vert finals, 5-7 p.m. at Staples Center; Saturday, women’s vert finals, 1-1:45 p.m. at Staples Center, and vert best trick finals, 3:30-4:30 p.m. at Staples Center; Sunday, big air finals, noon-1:30 p.m. at Staples Center.

* The competition: Skateboarding legend Danny Way, who last month cleared the Great Wall of China, is guaranteed a spot in the finals as the defending champion of his own creation, big air. The second-year event involves skating down a roll-in ramp as high as 80 feet, hurtling gaps 50 or 70 feet wide and continuing into a 27-foot quarterpipe. Nine skaters will get four jumps and will be judged on style, creativity and big air as they try to join Way, Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Andy MacDonald, last year’s top three finishers, in the finals. Street competition is performed on a concrete course with rails, ramps, sliding boxes and other obstacles. Vert competition involves a 100-foot-wide ramp with 11 1/2 -foot transitions. The 10 male competitors will take three 45-second runs, with their best score counting. The five female competitors, including reigning champion Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, will perform a 30-minute jam session and be judged on originality, variety and difficulty of maneuvers. Vert best trick has been extended to a 45-minute jam session this year and involves similar criteria as vert competition. Gagnon, silver medalist last year in big air, vert and vert best trick competitions, aims to bring home at least one gold this time around.

*--* BMX

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* When/where: Thursday, freestyle vert finals, 5:30-7 p.m. at Staples Center; Saturday, freestyle park finals, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Home Depot Center, vert best trick finals, 5-5:30 p.m. at Staples Center, and freestyle dirt finals, 5:30-7 p.m. at Home Depot Center.

* The competition: Vert best trick has been added this year, allowing riders to showcase their most impressive tricks during a 30-minute jam session in which they will be judged on originality, difficulty, style, height, use of course and execution. Vert, one of the most popular competitions, involves riders rising well above the halfpipe and performing twisting maneuvers in the air. Competitors each take two runs between 45-60 seconds, with the best score counting. Park involves myriad obstacles such as boxes and rails on which riders perform tricks. Dirt accentuates the freestyle aspect of BMX racing, with the emphasis on individual creativity as riders jump, spin and flip over gaps. Dave Mirra, who won the park and vert competitions a year ago, will try to add the vert best trick to his already sizable stash.

*--* WAKEBOARDING

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* When/where: Saturday, men’s final, 10 a.m.-10:40 a.m., women’s final, 11-11:30 a.m. at Long Beach Marine Stadium.

* The competition: A combination of surfing and water-skiing, this event features a rider towed behind a boat on a fiberglass board while spinning, flipping and twisting off the boat’s wake. Riders also perform maneuvers with the aid of water obstacles such as boxes and flat bars to score points. Phillip Soven, who last year ended Danny Harf’s three-year run as gold medalist in the event, is back to defend his title. Reigning women’s champion Dallas Friday also returns.

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-- Ben Bolch