The first round of rider picks for X Games 17 was announced last night by the X Games BMX Invite Committee, to be held in and around the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on July 28-31, 2011. Last night's round announced the full lineups for BMX Vert and Big Air, but there will be one more final announcement for additional riders in Street and Park on June 15. Last year's top three placings in each category were pre-qualified for this event.
New additions to each discipline include Austin Coleman (vert), Pat Casey (park), Jeremiah Smith (street) and Zack Warden (big air). Along with those new names are old familiar faces such as Dennis McCoy (who will return for his 17th year of competition), Ryan Nyquist in park and crowd favorite Morgan Wade in big air.
Dave Mirra, who formerly rode park, big air and vert and also holds the record for most medals by an X Games athlete, was not selected for any categories in BMX in the first round of picks.
The complete list of first round invites follows.
Vert: Ten Competitors, Two Alternates
Pre-qualified from XG 16:
1. Jamie Bestwick
2. Steve McCann
3. Simon Tabron
Round 1 Invites (complete)
4. Chad Kagy
5. Vince Byron
6. Coco Zurita
7. Dennis McCoy
8. Jimmy Walker
9. Zack Warden
10. Austin Coleman
Alt 1. Koji Kraft
Alt 2. Jorge Jovel
Park: 20 Competitors, Two Alternates
Pre-qualified from XG 16:
1. Daniel Dhers
2. Dennis Enarson
3. Gary Young
Round 1 Invites
4. Drew Bezanson
5. Brett Banasiewicz
6. Jeremiah Smith
7. Chase Hawk
8. Scotty Cranmer
9. Pat Casey
10. Diogo Canina
11. Ryan Nyquist
12. Garrett Reynolds
13. Mark Webb
Round 2 Invites for Park (seven invite spots and two alternates) will be announced June 15.
Street: Ten Competitors, Two Alternates
Pre-qualified from XG 16:
1. Garrett Reynolds
2. Dennis Enarson
3. Brian Kachinsky
Round 1 Invites
4. Dakota Roche
5. Ty Morrow
6. Sean Sexton
7. Jeremiah Smith
8. Josh Harrington
Big Air Invites: Six Competitors, Two Alternates
Pre-qualified from XG 16:
1. Chad Kagy
2. Steve McCann
3. Andy Buckworth
Round 1 Invites
4. Morgan Wade
5. Zack Warden
6. Vince Byron
Alt. 1. Anthony Napolitan
Alt. 2. Coco Zurita