After months of meetings and planning we were able to get the X games up and running in California once again. Due to the COVID situation we were not able to accommodate spectators and we had to break up the locations to multiple venues. The sites made for a much more intimate feel for an event of this nature. Our medical team was stacked. Big shout-out to the guys at Medicine in Motion and to Kathy Coakley at Coast Physical Therapy in Orange County. They are the best team members to have for these types of events.
The residents on our area of concentration in Sports Medicine were able to participate in coverage. It was an IDEAL medical team since I was lucky enough to have trained everyone on it during their career. We were able to utilize two of our old fellows, Andrew Nobe and Alexander Hu, along with our incoming faculty addition Elexis Khan.
Imagine being a brand new Sports Medicine Fellow starting on July 1st. Your first event coverage is the X games… Luckily Justin Mauser is a rock solid fellow and has been an amazing resident with me the last three years. I am fortunate to have him as a fellow now. He did an amazing job on the team and I am looking forward to many more action sports event coverage opportunities with him on the sideline.
We were lucky enough this year to see history as it unfolded. Sky Brown skated and then left for the olympics. Tony Hawk re-emerged for his first competition in 15 years and was knocked out of first place by 12 year old challenger, Gui Khury, sticks the first ever 1080 IN FRONT OF TONY HAWK… My personal favorite moment was seeing Deshaun Jordan get his first X Games Gold medal since I was there in China when Nyjah Houston knocked him out of first place in 2019.
I am happy to say that despite COVID, Sports are finding a way to move forward. I am excited to see what happens next for us out here in Long Beach.
