Buyten, Stenberg, Strong Get It Started At X Games

Paul Carruthers | July 29, 2011

X Games 17 got underway last night at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles with the Moto X Step-Up, Best Whip and Best Trick competitions. And records were broken.

Brian Deegan broke Tommy Clowers 11-year-old record in the Step-Up when his cleared the 35’6″ mark, but it wouldn’t stand. Later on, Matt Buyten cleared the bar at 37′, and he made it look easy in the process. It was Buyten’s fourth gold medal in the Step-Up competition.Ronnie Renner ended up second at 36’5″, followed by Deegan (35’6″) and Myles Richmond (35’6″), who were both credited with third place. Clowers ended up fifth with 34’6″ and Todd Potter sixth with 33’0″

.The fans voted Jeremy Stenberg the winner in the Best Whip competition, getting 27% of the vote, which topped Todd Potter’s 24%. Jarryd McNeil (22%), Josh Hansen (11%), Thomas Pages (9%) and Nate Adams (7%) made up the rest of the field.In Best Trick, 19-year-old Jackson Strong of Australia landed the first ever front flip at the X Games and went home with the gold. Cam Sinclair took second, followed by Josh Sheehan, Taka Higashino and Todd Potter.

Both Travis Pastrana and Mark Monea were knocked out of the competition with injury. Monea, who was heavily favored to win the Best Track, fell and called it a night. Pastrana also fell and reportedly broke his right foot and ankle.