X Games come to Southern California

By Aurora Mora, On-line Forty-Niner

June 18,1998

More than 450 of the world's greatest alternative sports athletes will converge in San Diego today (June 18) through the end of next weekend (June 28) to participate in the fourth annual ESPN X Games.

The X Games will be held in three separate venues in the San Diego area.

The majority of events will be held at Mariners Point in Mission Bay Park. Events here include: aggressive in-line skating, bicycle stunt, barefoot water-ski jumping, big air snowboarding, skateboarding, sport climbing and wakeboarding.

The downhill in-line skating and street luge events will take place on Mission Village Drive in Serra Mesa.

The sky surfing event will be held at Oceanside Harbor Beach.

The popularity of alternative sports has steadily risen since the beginning of the decade. Alternative sports have found a wide audience with Generation X.

In 1994, the ESPN programming department developed the X Games to promote, support and recognize superior athletes who veer away from conventional sports, director of marketing and communications Chris Stiepock said.

"We have absolutely the best athletes in every event," Stiepock said.

"We have Tony Hawk, who is huge in the skateboarding world and Matt Hoffman known for bicycle stunts."