X Games SLC. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The summer X Games made its Salt Lake City debut Friday through Sunday to a sold-out crowd at the Utah State Fairpark for its 30th anniversary. Since the Sundance Film Festival announced its move to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, the winter X Games could have its sights set on filling that event void.

Athletes from up to 15 different countries were represented. That included Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Canada, and 10-year-old Ema Kawakami from Japan, who landed in 3rd place on the men’s skateboard halfpipe vert competition podium.

X Games SLC, Woodward PC. — Woodward Park City had an activity area set up where fans could check out examples of all their action sports. TownLift // Michele Roepke

The Ken Block Memorial Tent at SLC X Games. — The Salt Lake City Games featured a Ken Block Booth with some of his cars and information on how attendees can learn more about the Park City family’s 43 Foundation. TownLift // Michele Roepke.

This year, the X Games acquired a new CEO in Jeremy Bloom, a two-time Olympic mogul skier and retired NFL football player. He skied at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Deer Valley, and then again in Torino in 2006.

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BMX park-style Olympian Hannah Roberts, 23, who lives in Salt Lake City following her passion to coach the younger generation of female cyclists, not only won the best trick event then kindly sharing a double victory lap with the second place competitor on Sunday, but she also won the gold medal for the straight comp earning back-to-back first places in both years which this discipline has been contested.

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Then for the grand finally on Sunday afternoon in the sweltering 95 degree sun, Kevin Peraza landed a ‘never done before’ BMX park trick for which he got gold but only after five minutes prior when he tried the same trick he crashed, bounced, and slid down the concrete then gingerly walked into the medical tent.

Another never-done-before moment happened on the BMX dirt course when Ryan Williams, AKA RWilly, a 31-year-old husband and father from Australia landed a triple back flip, taking home his second gold of the Games.

Paris Olympic medalist, American skateboarder Nyjah Huston, competed and won a silver medal in Salt Lake. He famously, or infamously, as some see it, doesn’t hold on to any of his second-place X Games medals, gifting them away or selling them on popular online sales sites.

Action sports icon Tony Hawk was not only on site lending his support and offering high-fives to athletes, he was pulling double duty, commentating for the live broadcast.

Park City’s Charlie Bowlen, an international trampoline athlete, was there and spoke with TownLift in this video.