X Games 13 Surfing Contest From July 3-6

Jun 11 2007 / Los Angeles, CA

SHARE Digg it   del.icio.us   LAT34 RSS Photo Galleries   Features   Daily News

The surfing competition of ESPN’s X Games will be held for a third consecutive year in Puerto Escondido. Famous for the big powerful waves of Zicatela Beach, the Men’s, Women’s and Local’s competitions are scheduled for July 3-6 at the “Mexican Pipeline.” This year’s competition will feature two new events, Women’s Surfing and the “USA vs. the World” format replacing the “East Coast vs. West Coast” format in years past. The majority of X Games 13 will be held August 2-5, in Los Angeles.

For the first time, the Men and Women Surfing competitions will be streamed LIVE with real-time scoring and chat on www.expn.com July 3-6 starting at 8 a.m. ET. Replay capabilities, event highlights on-demand post-event, coverage will also be available. The Surfing Men’s Final will broadcast on ABC Sat., Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. ET and the Surfing Women’s Final will be televised at 9:30 p.m. ET.

“We're very excited to add an incredible women's field this year, and the change to 'USA vs. the World' is going to be electric,” said X Games General Manager Chris Stiepock. “The X Games prides itself on providing the best action sports athletes with the most challenging courses to allow them to display their athleticism and progression, and the 'Mexican Pipeline' at Puerto Escondido does just that."

National Surfing League founder Brad Gerlach said, “It's exciting to change the format and bring the leading surf stars -- men and women -- from around the world to the X Games.”

The invited surfers include U.S. Men’s Rob Machado and Jamie O’Brien, U.S.Women’s Rochelle Ballard and Megan Abubo (right), World Team Men’s Julian Wilson and Mick Campbell, and World Team Women’s Sofia Mulanovich and Stephanie Gilmore.  Former World Champion Lisa Anderson will lead the USA Women’s team and seven-time World Champion Layne Beachly will coach the World team.

A complete list of competitors will be available shortly.

X Games added Surfing to the lineup of sports in 2003 with a discipline called The Game™. Developed by pro surfer Brad Gerlach, The Game™ places surfers into opposing teams – USA  vs. The World at the X Games – competing for an overall highest score and the team victory. The sport of Surfing is the only sport in which the athletes are selected by each team’s coach, not by a committee.

Puerto Escondido is a traditional Mexican fishing village located 180 miles south of the city of Oaxaca and 70 miles west of Huatulco Bay in an area known as the Emerald Coast for its brilliant jade-green waters. It has long been known as one of the world’s heaviest places to surf. The area’s wave season is from May through October, making July an optimal time for the X Games to hold its Surfing competition. Its reputation as the ”Mexican Pipeline” derives from the fast hollow waves that break in shallow water allowing surfers to pull in to giant tubes.