<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>X Games Aspen 2019</strong> kicked off Thursday night in front of a crowd of 9,000 at Buttermilk mountain in Aspen Snowmass, Colorado. The 23rd edition of the X Games winter event, ESPN and Aspen Ski Company announced Wednesday that Aspen will remain home to X Games for five more years. Over the next four days, X Games Aspen will showcase the world’s best Ski, Snowboard, Snowmobile and Snow Bike athletes and world-class musicians. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Celebrating the fifth year of <strong>Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding</strong> at <strong>X Games Aspen</strong>, the team of <strong>Henry Meece</strong> and <strong>Chris Klug</strong> cemented their dominance with their fifth gold medal. In this slalom race, teams are composed of one X Games athlete and one Special Olympics athlete, with pros racing head-to-head before Special Olympic riders do the same. <strong>Juan Guentrutripai</strong> and <strong>Scotty Lago</strong> took second place and <strong>Christopher Perdue</strong> and <strong>Mike Schultz</strong> took third to earn their first Special Olympic Unified Snowboarding medals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the Jeep Men’s Ski Slopestyle Elimination, Alex Beaulieu-Marchand tied for the first position with a 93.66 on his first run. In The <strong>Real Cost Men’s Snowboard Big Air</strong>, Swedish rider <strong>Sven Thorgren </strong>took the top qualifying position ahead of X Games Norway 2018 gold medalist <strong>Takeru Otsuka</strong> with a combined best score of 76.00. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After winning everything - including Olympic gold - in 2018, Cassie Sharpe had one gold left to win: X Games Aspen. In the first competition of the night, the Canadian fulfilled her goal of winning her first X Games Aspen gold in Women’s Ski SuperPipe. Trailing Estonian phenom Kelly Sildaru heading into her final run, Sharpe overtook Sildaru with run that scored a 94.00. Her run included back-to-back 900s and a leftside 1080 on the last hit. Competing in three disciplines at X Games, Sildaru won her first-ever SuperPipe medal with a score of 92.33 for silver. Rookie Rachael Karker rounded out the podium to win bronze with an 86.33. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Much to the delight of his fifty friends and family and hometown crowd, Aspen native Alex Ferreira won his first X Games gold in Great Clips Men’s Ski SuperPipe. Ferreira took an early lead, and then bettered his score on his third run with a run that included a rightside double cork 1260, into a leftside double cork 1080 and his signature double flatspin on the final hit. This win was the first time in nine years that an Aspen native took home gold at X Games Aspen. Last year’s gold medalist David Wise couldn’t best Ferreira with his final run, settling for silver. Nico Porteous took home bronze. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the final competition of the night, X Games rookie <strong>Laurie Blouin </strong>proved that her Olympic silver was no fluke. The 22-year-old Canadian bested Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and veteran <strong>Jamie Anderson </strong>for a gold in <strong>Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air</strong>. Blouin landed a frontside 900 and a cab double underflip for a combined score of 77.00. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">X Games Aspen continues tomorrow with Jeep Women’s Ski Slopestyle, The Real Cost Men’s Ski Big Air Elimination, <strong>Jeep Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Elimination</strong>, Snowmobile Freestyle, Women’s Ski Big Air and <strong>The Real Cost Men’s Snowboard Big Air</strong>. Following competition, Lil Wayne kicks off three days of music on the GEICO stage. Schedules and TV listings available at XGames.com.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><strong>Results</strong></div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding</strong> </div><div><br /></div><div>1. Henry Meece / Chris Klug - 34.7</div><div>2. Scotty Lago / Juan Guentrutrsipai - 34.82</div><div>3. Mike Schultz / Christopher Perdue - 35.37</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Gold - Henry Meece / Chris Klug</strong></div><div><strong>Silver - Scotty Lago / Juan Guentrutrsipai</strong></div><div><strong>Bronze - Mike Schultz / Christopher Perdue</strong></div><div><br /></div><div><strong>The Real Cost Men’s Snowboard Big Air Elimination</strong></div><div><br /></div><div>1. Sven Thorgren (SWE) 76.00</div><div>2. Takeru Otsuka (JPN) 75.00</div><div>3. Sebastien Toutant (CAN) 75.00</div><div>4. Darcy Sharpe (CAN) 71.00</div><div>5. Rene Rinnekangas (FIN) 58.00</div><div>6. Sebbe De Buck (BEL) 43.00</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Gold - Sven Thorgren</strong></div><div><strong>Silver - Takeru Otsuka</strong></div><div><strong>Bronze - Sebastien Toutant</strong></div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air</strong></div> <div><br /></div><div>1. Laurie Blouin (CAN) 77.00</div><div>2. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL) 77.00</div><div>3. Jamie Anderson (USA) 67.00</div><div>4. Enni Rukajarvi (FIN) 56.00</div><div>5. Yuka Fujimori (JPN) 45.00</div><div>6. Klaudia Medlova (SVK) 36.00</div><div>7. Hailey Langland (USA) 27.00</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Gold - Laurie Blouin</strong></div><div><strong>Silver - Zoi Sadowski-Synnott</strong></div><div><strong>Bronze - Jamie Anderson</strong> </div><div><br /></div>