The first day of the 2016 X Games is in the books, and whether you were a fan attending the events in Aspen, Colo., or watching the action on ESPN3, you were not disappointed. Day 1 featured the SnoCross and SnoCross Adaptive snowmobiling events, as well as the Men's Ski SuperPipe Final and the Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding Final.
SnoCross - Tucker Hibbert came away with his ninth-straight gold medal and 10th gold medal overall in this event. With the win, he’s now tied for the most consecutive golds in a single discipline, matching the record set by Jamie Bestwick, who has nine golds in BMX Vert. Adam Renheim (Sweden) took silver, and Corin Todd finished third for the bronze.
This year’s SnoCross course was full of tricky banks, a step-on step-off feature, and a huge 80-foot jump right before the finish line, sending racers sailing about 100 feet as they cleared the jump.
In the final, Hibbert controlled the first corner from the inside, taking the immediate lead. Where the rest of the field needed to check before jumps, slow down, and run cautiously in certain zones, Hibbert displayed his ability to keep the throttle pinned and maintained tons of momentum throughout every turn. Hibbert stayed consistent and strong, constantly stretching his lead over 20 laps until the checkered flag flew. By the end, he was ahead by more than 10 seconds.
“It’s crazy to think about," said Hibbert immediately after the race. "We’ve been working so hard for it, and today everything went as good as it could and went as planned. It was super slippery out there, so I had to be safe and consistent in the turns. But I’m pumped, it’s awesome!”
SnoCross Adaptive - Mike Schultz won in dominating fashion, nearly a full minute ahead of Paul Thacker and E.J. Poplawski. Thacker avoided a big three-snowmobile pileup right out of the gates, working his way back into second place for the silver, his first-ever medal at X Games in nine appearances.
Men's Ski SuperPipe - Kevin Rolland of France earned a score of 93.33 and a gold medal with his best run, beating out silver medalist Gus Kenworthy (USA, 92.33) and bronze medalist Benoit Valentin (France, 90.66).
Special Olympics Dual Slalom - Chris Klug and Henry Meece finished just 0.8 seconds better than Danny Davis and Zach Elder. The only two-female combo (Hannah Teter and Daina Shilts) earned the bronze medal.
The snowmobile events wrap up tonight with the Monster Energy Snowmobile Freestyle Final, which kicks off at 6 p.m. CST.
For a complete schedule and results, visit xgames.espn.go.com.
Photos by Joe Wiegele / ESPN Images