Monster Energy Athletes Claim Gold on Final Day at X Games Chiba 2024

The third X Games in Japan is officially a wrap! Monster Energy congratulates its BMX, Moto X, and Skateboard athletes on groundbreaking performances at X Games Chiba 2024. During three days of live competitions inside Makuhari Messe stadium, the world-class team claimed a total of 11 X Games medals (three gold, four silver, and four bronze), and raised the bar by landing never-been-done tricks. 

Standouts included 25-year-old Tom Schaar from Malibu, California, taking the win in Men’s Skateboard Park to claim his first X Games gold medal in the discipline. The BMX Park Best Trick event saw 30-year-old Daniel Sandoval from Corona, California, earn his first career gold medal in the discipline. On Sunday, the Women’s Skateboard Park competition concluded with 14-year-old Monster Army rider Arisa Trew from Palm Beach, Australia, claiming her third consecutive gold medal. Visit monsterenergy.com for exclusive content and highlights.

Supported by Monster Energy as the official energy drink partner, X Games Chiba 2024 marked the 71st edition of X Games since the contest’s inception in 1995. From September 20 to 22, the world’s premier action sports event showcased 85 elite athletes from 16 countries. At Japan’s third consecutive X Games, athletes competed for 33 medals in 11 events across BMX, Moto X, and Skateboarding disciplines. 

Here’s how the Monster Energy team performed at X Games Chiba 2024:   

The team’s medal run started on Saturday in the down-to-the-wire Men’s Skateboard Vert final. On his last attempt, Tom Schaar put down a perfect run including alley-oop backside 540 melon, backside 540 tailgrab, alley-oop heelflip Indy nosebone, frontside nosegrind, kickflip Indy to fakie, Cab 720 tailgrab, alley-oop backside lipslide, kickflip body varial 540, bigspin backside lipslide, backside 360 tailgrab fakie, and fakie 5-0 grind to clinch the bronze with a score of 89.00 points. Plus, he had more in store this weekend!

The podium spots continued in the Women’s Skateboard Street final, where 15-year-old Liz Akama from Miyagi, Japan, faced heavy competition. Holding her own in the final, she landed backside Smith grind the rail, 180 to fakie 50-50 on bump to ledge, frontside bigspin the bank, backside lipslide the small rail, Barley grind 180 (frontside 180 to switch Smith grind) on flat bar, and frontside 270 to switch frontside boardslide the rail for 83.00 points and the bronze medal. Akama now owns six X Games medals (three silver, and three bronze). 

Next, riders raised the bar in the Monster Energy Men’s Skateboard Street Best Trick event. Known for his innovative trick selection, 29-year-old Nyjah Huston from Laguna Beach, California, singled out the big stair set handrail as the spot to land a technical banger: A perfectly poised half-Cab kickflip to crooked grind on the rail earned Huston the bronze medal. Credited with owning the most X Games gold medals in skateboarding at 15 medals, Huston now owns 24 X Games medals (15 gold, five silver, and four bronze). He is tied with BMX rider Dave Mirra for second-most X Games medals of all time.

The medal run continued on Sunday with a big win in the Men’s Skateboard Park final. Hungry for his first X Games gold in the discipline, Tom Schaar landed heelflip Indy the extension, backside lipslide, frontside stalefish 360 over box, huge tailgrab 540, kickflip Indy over the box, transfer to frontside nosegrind extension, alley-oop kickflip Indy over hip, kickflip Indy fakie, and Caballerial Losi grind for 90.66 points and the victory. Schaar now owns 14 X Games medals (three gold, four silver, and seven bronze).

Schaar was joined on the podium by 20-year-old Kieran Woolley from Kiama Downs, Australia in silver medal position. Using the entire park, Woolley put together a perfect run replete with backside tailgrab 360 the box, kickflip Indy the deep end, transfer to backside 5-0 grind, gap up backside lipslide the extension, ollie transfer the channel, frontside feeble grind, rail wallie the rail over the box, and invert backside revert for 88.33 points and second place. Woolley now owns three X Games medals (one gold, and two silver).

Trick innovations set the tone in the Skateboard Vert Best Trick event. In the jam session, 28-year-old Moto Shibata from Osaka, Japan, stomped a new trick that had never landed in a contest before to claim the silver medal. His front foot impossible Lien 540 – combining a one-and-a-half rotation with a board varial around the foot – earned Shibata second place at X Games Chiba 2024. Shibata now owns nine X Games medals (one gold, seven silver, and one bronze).

In the Women’s Skateboard Park final, Monster Army rider Arisa Trew dropped in as the rider to beat after claiming double gold at X Games Ventura in Park and Vert. But when the young ripper found herself sitting in second place with only one run left, it all came down to the wire: Earning a walk-off victory, Trew landed body varial 540, front crooked grind fakie, switch backside air over the box, fakie mute 360, kickflip Indy, gap to frontside lipslide the extension, McTwist on volcano, mute air, Indy 360 to fakie, and switch backside air earned Trew 91.66 points and her third consecutive gold medal in the discipline. Trew now owns five X Games gold medals and also earned the gold medal at Paris 2024.

The wins continued in the BMX Park Best Trick event, where another Monster Energy rider earned a career-first victory: In the jam session, Daniel Sandoval unleashed a high-flying flair double whip to late barspin on the quarter pipe to claim the gold medal as his career-first in the discipline. Sandoval now owns 9 X Games medals (three gold, one silver, five bronze). He was joined on the podium by 27-year-old Jeremy Malott from Lake Havasu City, Arizona, in the silver medal position. The trick that won the medal: Malott put down a perfect 180 double tailwhip to late barspin over the box backward to stoke the crowd. Malott now owns three X Games medals (one silver and two bronze).

Closing out X Games Chiba 2024 with a bang, the Moto X Best Trick contest finally happened after being postponed due to Saturday’s gusting winds. In a progressive session with riders taking two attempts, 32-year-old Jackson Strong from Lockhart, Australia, claimed the silver medal with a Cliffhanger frontflip for 94.00 points. Also rising to the podium, 39-year-old style icon Taka Higashino claimed the bronze medal. In his twentieth X Games appearance, Higashino put down a stylish Rock Solid backflip to earn a score of 86.00 points and the bronze medal. Higashino now owns six X Games medals (three gold, one silver, and two bronze).

And that’s a wrap for X Games Chiba 2024! Missed the action on live stream? X Games fans in the United States who missed the action at X Games Japan 2024 can re-watch all live broadcasts on the official X Games YouTube channel.