Tokyo, New York Clubs Tied For Lead After Chiba Event

X Games Chiba marked the second stop of the inaugural X Games League summer season, following X Games Sacramento in June. The final stop and championship will be held July 24–26 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

X Games

Following the first stop of the season in Sacramento, X Games League (XGL) headed to Chiba, Japan, for the second of three events in its inaugural summer season.

After two days of competition at Makuhari Messe, XC Tokyo and XC New York emerged deadlocked atop the XGL standings with 1,770 points apiece. The stage is set for a winner-take-all championship later this month in New Orleans.

XC São Paulo remains firmly in contention with 1,610 points, while XC Los Angeles sits within striking distance at 1,510, leaving all four clubs mathematically alive in the race for the first X Games League title.

At X Games Chiba, BMX street icon Garrett Reynolds captured a record 18th career gold medal. In women’s BMX park, 16-year-old Miharu Ozawa followed up her Sacramento breakthrough by defeating two-time champion Hannah Roberts for the second consecutive event, helping XC Tokyo maintain its early lead.

Chloe Covell continued justifying her status as the No. 1 draft pick at the inaugural X Games League draft in March with another women’s skateboard street victory for XC New York, while hometown favorite Mizuho Hasegawa thrilled Japanese fans by winning women’s vert. Juni Kang followed up his Sacramento success with another men’s street Best Trick victory featuring multiple never-before-done tricks: a switch heelflip backside tailslide to backside bigspin and a switch 180 crooked grind to nollie heelflip out.

Marcus Christopher delivered BMX park gold for XC Los Angeles, and 11-year-old Ema Kawakami became the youngest male gold medalist in X Games history by ending Gui Khury’s four-event reign in men’s vert. Moto X veteran Rob Adelberg rounded out the opening day by claiming another Best Trick title.

On Sunday, XC New York steadily erased Tokyo’s advantage with podium finishes across multiple disciplines.

Spain celebrated a landmark moment as 15-year-old Egoitz Bijueska became the country’s first X Games skateboard gold medalist by winning men’s park. Mia Kretzer added another win to her young résumé, triumphing in women’s vert Best Trick at just 11 years old.

BMX park Best Trick showcased continued technical progression. Mike Varga landed the first 900 decade in competition, while Marcus Christopher successfully landed the flair triple downside tailwhip he had attempted four times in Sacramento. Logan Martin earned another podium finish to strengthen both his individual and team standings.

Gui Khury resumed his vert Best Trick dominance with a seventh consecutive victory in the discipline, while Momiji Nishiya rebounded from a disappointing street contest by landing an X Games-first crooked grind nollie heelflip to win women’s street Best Trick and provide a crucial boost for XC New York.

Sky Brown returned to the top of the women’s park podium for the first time in four years to keep XC São Paulo within reach of the leaders. Ginwoo Onodera closed the weekend by defending his men’s street title, giving XC New York the points necessary to pull even with Tokyo before the championship stop.

The individual MVP race has become nearly as tight as the team championship. Hasegawa leaves Chiba atop the overall athlete standings after medaling across multiple disciplines, while Logan Martin’s consistency has made him one of the league’s highest point scorers. Reynolds has established himself as the top-ranked single-discipline competitor, and free agents Kang, Kretzer and Bijueska demonstrated that athletes outside the four clubs remain capable of shaking up the competitive landscape.

With two events in the books, the XGL standings are as follows.