Top skateboarders are among the next wave of 26 athletes invited to compete in the first-ever X Games Oslo 2016, to be held Feb. 24 – 28 and distributed by ESPN in the U.S. The second round of invited athletes includes seven of the top skateboarders in the world, with Nyjah Huston and Curren Caples headlining the first-ever international-level skateboarding competition held in Norway. The winter sports athletes include, hometown favorite and three-time X Games gold medalist, Norwegian Silje Norendal, six-time X Games medalist Iouri Podladtchikov and three-time X Games halfpipe defending gold medalist Maddie Bowman. The full list of invited athletes is available at xgames.espn.go.com/xgames/events/2016/oslo/invitedathletes/.
Ten-time X Games medalist Nyjah Huston said, “I’m super stoked about X Games Oslo because I’m part Norwegian so it’ll be cool to go there for my first time!”
ESPN and TV2 will each distribute 21 hours of live coverage. TV2 will air the competitions live in Norway, while ESPN’s coverage will be distributed live on ESPN3 and as part of its World of X Games series on ABC. Additional competition, music and behind-the-scenes content will be carried on ESPN3 as well as the latest coverage across ESPN digital platforms, including XGames.com, X Games app, X Games pages across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and more.
The second wave of athlete invites include:
- Nyjah Huston (Davis, Calif.) – A 10-time X Games medalist, Huston has won the past six X Games Skateboard Street events in which he has competed. This season, he took home X Games gold, won the Nike SB Pro Open, and took second at the Los Angeles, New Jersey and Chicago Street League Skateboarding stops. This month he also added a win at the Kimberly Diamond Cup.
- Curren Caples (Ventura, Calif.) – A threat in both Skateboard Street and Park competitions, Caples is a three-time X Games medalist (two gold, one silver). The defending X Games Park gold medalist, Caples also took home the Skateboard Streetstyle win at the Dew Tour Chicago and the inaugural Hartlines competition this summer.
- Iouri Podladtchikov (Zurich, Switzerland) – Known for landing the first Cab double cork 1440 which he dubbed the “Yolo Flip” in competition, Podladtchikov has three X Games Aspen medals and three X Games Tignes medals, including 2010 gold. He added a bronze at X Games Aspen 2015 and took home the 2015 Burton European Open Halfpipe first place. The 2014 Olympic Snowboard Halfpipe gold medalist, Podladtchikov opened this season with a win at the 2015 Winter Games in New Zealand.
- Silje Norendal (Oslo, Norway) – The three-time defending X Games Snowboard Sloepstyle gold medalist, Norendal finished second place overall on the World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle rankings last season. Norendal finished the season with a win at the Norwegian Championships.
- Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) – The most decorated rider in the Snowboard Slopestyle field, Anderson has earned a medal in every X Games Slopestyle event in which she has competed. The defending back-to-back silver medalist in Snowboard Slopestyle, Anderson took first place at the Burton High Fives, Burton US Open and Dew Tour last season. She opened this season with a win at the Winter Games in New Zealand.
- Joss Christensen (Park City, Utah) – After becoming the first-ever Olympic Ski Halfpipe gold medalist, Christensen rode the momentum to his first-ever X Games medal with a silver medal finish at X Games Aspen 2015. He followed with a win at the Park City Grand Prix stop. Christensen began the season with a third place finish at the Winter Games in New Zealand.
- Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) – The three-time defending X Games Ski SuperPipe gold medalist, Bowman is a five-time X Games medalist. Consistently one of the youngest in the field, Bowman has held the top spot in the AFP Ski Halfpipe rankings since 2013. One of the most dominant women’s ski halfpipe riders, Bowman won the first-ever Winter Olympic Ski Halfpipe gold medal in 2014 at the Sochi Games.
The full initial list of invited athletes can be found at XGames.com.
*PLEASE NOTE: The invited athlete list is constantly being updated and is subject to change.
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Contact:
Grace Coryell ESPN X Games, 213-405-4402, grace.s.coryell@espn.com
Danny Chi ESPN X Games, 213-405-4400, danny.c.chi@espn.com
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