All Clear for Clowers in Step-Up

Tommy Clowers didn’t bother checking the high bar that was 32 feet above the ground Friday night in the Moto X step-up competition at the X Games.

His eyes focused on the nearly vertical dirt ramp that led to the bar.

Finding just the right spot on the lip to launch was key to winning the contest in the tennis stadium outside Home Depot Center, and Clowers was right on target, clearing the bar on his first attempt to win his fourth gold medal in the event.

“This was a really tough lip this year,” said Clowers, a 32-year-old from Ramona. “As soon as I got to the top, I tried to pull and turn and push and everything I could to get over that thing.”

Matt Buyten, the 2003 winner in the event, was the only other competitor of the five starters to clear 31 feet 6 inches. But after Clowers cleared 32-0, Buyten couldn’t match him. He clipped the bar with his back tire on the way down and nailed it even harder with the same tire on the second.

Buyten, who dislocated his shoulder three times while finishing second in the event last year, said hitting the ramp just right made all the difference.

“It was way shorter than what we’re used to and it had a quick hook to it,” said Buyten, who lives in Carson City, Nev. “So, it was pretty hard to clear.”

Jeremy McGrath, who won last year at 33-6, tied for third after failing to clear the bar at 31 feet. McGrath, a seven-time supercross champion who won gold in his first X Games appearance a year ago, had enough height to clear the bar on both attempts, but his back tire dislodged it on the way down. Ronnie Renner of Westminster also knocked the bar down with his rear tire on both attempts at 31 feet.

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Eric Bostrom wasn’t too impressed with the SuperMoto course layout after two practice sessions at the Home Depot Center.

Bostrom said he’s particularly wary of a paved, high-speed S-turn in a section of the course that runs through the parking lot. A curb sits in the middle of the turn and the front side is paved, sending riders briefly into the air as they set up to navigate the second half of the turn.

“It’s not safe,” said Bostrom, 28, who comes from a road racing background. “If you crash, there’s nowhere to go.”

Bostrom, who splits time between Temecula and Las Vegas, said he planned to ask track officials to slow that section by tightening the radius of the turns.

“A lot of these guys, you know, are great motocrossers or great dirt trackers,” he said. “But I’m the only guy that knows what happens when you crash on the pavement going that fast.”

One official said Bostrom was the only rider to complain about the course.

“Safety will be first, that much I can tell you,” said Paul Taublieb, a consultant for ESPN on the original creation of the X Games and currently a sport organizer for both Moto X freestyle and SuperMoto.

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The Moto X freestyle finals are today at Home Depot Center and most of the riders spent Friday getting used to the lengthened layout.

The biggest jump is now 100 feet, compared to 80 a year ago. There’s also a 90-footer and an 80-footer in the eight-jump layout.

“There’s a lot more jumps and maybe it’s more technical,” said Nate Adams of Glendale, Ariz., the event’s defending champion. “They’ve got a good mix of everything.”

The course also includes a new section where riders can launch themselves into a wall and ride it horizontally before pushing off. Adams wasn’t too impressed with that feature, however.

“There’s only so much you can do on it,” he said. “The best thing is probably turn around.”

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-- Dan Arritt

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A familiar face was at the top of the podium at the women’s skateboard street finals outside Staples Center as Elissa Steamer defended her gold medal, but a pair of rising stars served notice.

Evelien Bouilliart, 15, of Belgium and Marissa Del Santo, 18, of Chicago finished second and third, respectively, in the event that is judged but not scored. It was the first X Games appearance for both riders.

Steamer, 30, of West Hollywood, is one of the pioneers of women’s skateboarding and a competition veteran. She acknowledged that the younger riders sent a message.

“I was lucky,” Steamer said. “Give them time, they’ll be beating me.

“It’s evolution, you know. It’s going to happen. I ain’t hating on it, that’s the way it goes.”

Del Santo and Bouilliart said they were nervous in their major competition debuts, but their performances didn’t show it. They were smooth during all three jam sessions and continually landed difficult tricks.

“I didn’t think I was going to do that well,” Del Santo said. “I get really nervous skating in front of people.”

Competing against role models such as Steamer for the first time added to the nerves, she said.

Steamer used a variety of staple tricks, including a kick flip over a flight of stairs, to secure the victory. She also took a hard fall and limped through the medal ceremony, with a bag of ice wrapped around her foot.

Still, she was happy to see some rising stars make an impact in a sport that is trying to grow.

“When I was a kid, I never even skated with a girl, you know what I mean?” she said. “In the last seven years, it’s been more and more. Now it’s like almost every skate park you go to there’s at least one girl skateboarding.”

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In-line skating will take place inside Staples Center today, but for the first time in X Games history, it will not be an official event.

Six skaters will perform a demo at 2:30 p.m., between the women’s skateboard vert and the men’s skateboard best trick competitions.

Organizers blame sagging television ratings for cutting the event, which has disappointed the athletes.

“It’s pretty upsetting,” said Fabiola da Silva, the dominant women’s in-line skater in the world. “Every sport goes through ups and downs, that’s normal, I think. I just hope all the rollerbladers just keep skating and stick together because the sport is going to pick up again.”

Eito Yasatoko of Japan, the X Games gold medalist in 1999, 2000 and 2003, said the lack of an American in-line star is part of the problem.

“It’s a big problem for competition on ESPN,” he said. “In Asian X Games, that is a very big event. In-line skating is [among the] most popular sports in Asia.”

Peter Yoon

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Dallas Friday, 18, is looking to become the first female to three-peat in the wakeboard competition when the finals are held today at Marine Stadium in Long Beach.

“I’ve been riding really good,” said Friday, the two-time champion who finished first in the preliminaries. “I definitely want to win this weekend.”

Friday will be looking to cap her finals with a whirlybird, a trick that involves a back flip into a 360 spin, in the competition that involves a combination of surfing and water-skiing. She performed the trick at last year’s preliminaries, but crashed while trying it in the finals.

“I don’t really need the whirlybird, but it’s something I want to do,” Friday said.

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Parks Bonifay, who won the inaugural X Games wakeboarding competition for men, failed to qualify for today’s finals.

Bonifay, a two-time wakeboarding champion, finished ninth in the preliminaries.

“You’ve got 10 of the top wakeboarders in the country, so it’s tough to get into the top four,” Bonifay said. “I’m still enjoying the sun and having a good time getting to see some of my friends in the other sports.”

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-- Jonathan Abrams