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FLORIDA TODAY
By HILLARD GROSSMAN
August 4, 2009

Cocoa Beach skateboarder Adam Taylor, who finished fourth in both Big Air events and ninth in the Pro Skate Vert, spent an exciting few days this past week at X Games 15 in California. Battered and bruised from competition, he spoke to FLORIDA TODAY after the final event, reflecting on his thrills and spills.

Adam Taylor, left, appreciated having Kelly Slater in the stands and rooting for him during the X Games this past weekend.
(Photo: Mike Rogers)

Question: What was the most spectacular stunt you saw all weekend?

Answer: A bunch, actually. But probably in the Rail Jam, where Danny Way was skating such a difficult trick when he was hurt. He said he probably tore his MCL, and he had rolled his ankles before that.

Q: This was your second trip out there. What did you learn this time around?

A: I learned a lot more. I did a bunch of tricks in competition that I didn’t think I couldn’t do. I practiced them a lot, but in competition, you never know. I did some new tricks, like the backflip over the 70-foot (gap), followed by a 17-foot Melon 540. It’s pretty much adrenaline — for most of the guys.

Q: The Rail Jam off the Mega Ramp was a new addition, and you nearly pulled it off with a fourth-place finish. How was that?

A: We knew about it, but none of us skaters had any practice on it. We just skated a little on it before (the competition). I figured it out, though. It was pretty scary. Danny Way invented it five years ago. I don’t know what’s next, though. Who knows?

Q: Legendary skater Tony Hawk was an analyst for ESPN. What did he say to you?

A: He’s pretty cool. He wants to get to know me better. He likes my skating. He was the TV announcer with Sal (Masekela). They were cool. They hung out with us all the time. Tony was amazing. Actually, on the morning of the Rail Jam, we had a skate, and he joined us. I think he learned it the fastest of anyone. That is ridiculous. I guess when you’re that good, you can do anything.

Q: Fourth place in two events is pretty tough to swallow. How did you deal with it?

A: I was pretty bummed at first, like immediately after the competition. I got over it now. But I was pretty bummed. There was some controversy in both events (mainly in the Rail Jam). Some people thought I should have gotten a third in the contest, and others thought I should have medaled in the rail.

Q: Both times, Rob Lorifice took the bronze away from you. Are you mad at him?

A: Not at all. Me and Rob are the only young guys out there, and we are good friends. Sometimes it’s just the way it is. We don’t take it personally. We just take it out on the judges.

Q: All that skating this week. Do you have a lot of bumps and bruises?

A: Yeah, by the end of the weekend, both of my hips were bruised; I bruised my ribs in the Rail Jam, and that still hurts; and both of the bottom of my feet are bruised. I’ll just take a few days off.

Q: Who were some of the celebrities you saw?

A: Kelly Slater, for one. He came out for the Big Air, and talked to me. It was pretty cool. That was really exciting for me, seeing him watching me. There was Darryl Hannah. She likes the Mega, and she likes to watch the Vert. Nick Swardson, the comedian, was there, too. He’s really funny. There are always people showing up.

Q: You got a lot of air time on ESPN. Were there a lot of people in Cocoa Beach texting you all weekend?

A: Yeah, I got a bunch of text messages from my old friends, and I’m on Facebook and Twitter, so there was so many messages. People just saying, ‘Good job.’

Q: What kind of fun things did you get to do while you were out there?

A: Honestly, I was so busy skating. . . . Literally, I’d wake up in the morning, skate all day, and come back to the hotel and sleep. It just wore me out. I mean, six days of skating as hard as I can.

Q: What’s next for Adam Taylor?

A: Well, we have the next stop on the Dew Tour, the Wendy’s Invitational, coming up in about a week and a half in Portland, Ore. It’s a nice place. I’m looking forward to it.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
August 4, 2009
Vista, CA

DC congratulates its team on yet another amazing weekend of competition and medals at X Games 15 in Los Angeles during DC’s second Gold Standard 2009.

Danny Way leads the list of successes with a Gold in the first-ever running of the Big Air Rail Jam on Friday night. Despite a tweaked knee that put him on crutches and a severely twisted ankle suffered during the evening practice, Way was able to drop the crutches and roll into the world’s largest skateboarding structure, finally landing a switch 50-50 on the rail to take Gold. Way invented the MegaRamp and MegaRamp rainbow rail while filming for the now-iconic DC Video, and later used it to jump over the Great Wall of China before finally introducing it to X Games Big Air five years ago.

Later Friday night, in BMX Big Air, Chad Kagy took Silver and Dave Mirra took Bronze in yet another event filled with new tricks and progression. With every rider getting their tricks, Kagy sent a huge tailwhip backflip over the 70-foot gap to a huge 17-foot whip flair on the quarterpipe. Mirra followed that to take Bronze with his signature air traffic controller (a stylish no handed backflip 360), a trick only he can do.  Mirra continues his reign as the most decorated athlete in X Games history.

For the first time in X Games history there was a tie for the win in Moto X Step Up, with defending champ Ricky Carmichael (RC) sharing the Gold with DC flow rider Ronnie Renner.  With just two guys left—RC and Renner—the bar went up to 35 feet.  Both riders knocked off the bar on their first two tries, so it went to a third round. Renner missed, and Carmichael slammed hard. Neither guy cleared the last height, so they shared the Gold.

Great finishes continued on Saturday with Kagy taking the Bronze in BMX Vert thanks to flairwhips, barspin tailwhips, and a ridiculous opposite flair whip. It was his second medal at X Games 15 after taking Silver in BMX Big Air on Friday night.

Nate Adams took yet another medal in Moto X Freestyle, this time a Bronze. With some bad luck in his first and third runs, “the Destroyer’s” second run was flawless with a contest high 46—no-problem 360s and every other trick looking so easy thanks to Adams’ precision.

Travis Pastrana closed out the weekend with a Silver in Rally Car Racing. Having taken Gold for the last three years straight, Pastrana has medaled in Rally Car Racing every single year it’s been at X Games.

To correspond with X Games 15, for the second consecutive year DC officially took over The Standard, Downtown LA for The Gold Standard 2009.  Conceived by DC, The Gold Standard 2009 is a hosted hotel takeover of the swanky hotel in the heart of Los Angeles. Over the course of the four-day event, guests were treated to the ultimate VIP experience at the hotel. During the day, guests had exclusive access to lounges filled with entertainment, games, gifting, amenities, and a place to recharge and chill.  Each evening The Gold Standard 2009 hosted exclusive events where guests and athletes rubbed elbows while enjoying cocktails, music and live entertainment.

Additionally, FUEL TV joined The Gold Standard 2009 for the second straight year, bringing The Daily Habit, a half-hour daily interview and variety show, on location to the rooftop of The Standard, Downtown LA. Each episode filmed included interviews and footage with DC athletes, as well as providing an insider’s peek of The Gold Standard 2009 experience. DC week on The Daily Habit will air: Monday, August 17 to Friday, August 21, 2009, airing weeknights at 9:00pm ET (6:00pm PT) while re-airing later in the evening at 12:00am ET (9:00pm PT), and the following weekday at 2:30pm ET (11:30am PT) and 5:30pm ET (2:30 pm PT).

EXAMINER.com
By LOIZ CALADO
August 4, 2009

Summer X Games 2009 Results:
Gold at the end of the skateboarding rainbow:
Danny Way lands a switch 50-50.
(Photo: Luiz Calado)

Known for peaks and valleys along its time line, the sport of skateboarding is definitely in a up swing right now.

And the X Games 15 is an evidence of that.

Although the upwards tendency has been going on for a while – with more public skate parks being built, mainstream programs and commercials appearing on TV, big corporations sponsoring professionals – the nature of skateboarding competition is one of the aspects emerging with a whole new level of creativity and progression.

New and improved on day #2

The second day of the 2009 X Games marked the debut of the Big Air Rail Jam contest, which essentially added a rainbow rail over the MegaRamp gap, and competitors were judged on their best rail trick landed.

Despite the novelty of the discipline, the battle was fearless. One after another (during a 30-minute jam session), all the skaters attempted very technical tricks and, while just a few were successful, the competition was an exciting spectacle for the audience inside the Staples Center.

Andy Macdonald is skater’s skater. Not only he has participated in every single Summer X Games held to date, he usually enters more than one contest per event.

The view inside the Staples Center. (Photo: Luiz Calado)

This year it was not different and, one day after taking silver in Big Air, there he was again, battling the Rail Jam. But although he landed things like a melon to back lip, he ended up in fifth place.

Adam Taylor grabs and grinds.
(Photo: Luiz Calado)

Ahead of him in the final results came Adam Taylor, one of the up and coming young generation of professionals that is pushing the envelope even further – for instance, he stuck a flip indy to 50-50 and finished fourth.

Danny Way’s path to gold
(Photos: Luiz Calado)

In the medal dispute, Rob Lorifice added another bronze to his collection (he got another just the day before, on Big Air) – his backside lipslide was nothing short of textbook.

Silver belonged to Bob Burnquist who threw in more attempts at different tricks than anyone else, from frontside noseslides to switch back lips. Such variety is likely to be the result of skating his own MegaRamp. At any rate, the X Games’ structure is rather different, with a much steeper drop in.

Whether that made a difference or not, in the end, gold was awarded to with Danny Way who landed a switch 50-50 – regardless of competing with injured knee and a hurting ankle.

Those who are familiar with him are aware that a bum knee is not the kind of thing that is going to stop Danny Way.

Rob Lorifice’s nosegrind 
(Photos: Luiz Calado)

On his own right, the guy is a legend – not just for his astonishing resilience, or because his renowned stunts (like jumping the Great Wall of China, dropping from a flying helicopter or breaking a land speed record) – but, by and large, because of the intuitive foresight and outstanding role he has played in what skateboarding has become nowadays.

For all the work he has done – even in the making of what the X Games is today – a gold medal is nothing but deserved.