SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The X Games are returning to Southern California this summer, including two sites in San Diego County, though no fans will be allowed to attend.
The games will be held from July 14 to 18 after being put on hiatus for a year due to the pandemic. Two out of three of the locations will be based in San Diego County.
Moto X events will be hosted at the Slayground, a massive Ramona property with dirt jumps, wallrides, steep turns, and quarterpipes owned by seven-time X Games medalist Axell Hodges. Skateboarding and some BMX events will be set at the CA Training Facility, in Vista. Most BMX events will be held at the Dreamyard, which takes up all of X Games medalist Pat Casey’s backyard at his Riverside home.
"Hosting X Games at my Slayground is a huge opportunity for the entire sport. From day one, Slayground was all about pushing the progression of freestyle motocross. I know everyone is ready to come back after an entire year without contests ready to send it and we’ll push the progression to the next level," Hodges said in a release.
This summer's X Games will be the final competition before many skateboarders and BMX athletes head to Tokyo to compete in the Olympics, including Sky Brown, Leticia Bufoni, and Poppy Olsen.
Several local natives will also be competing in the games, including Hodges, Tom Schaar, Chad Kerley, Dennis Enarson, and Mitchie Brusco.
The X Games were last in Southern California back in 2013 in Los Angeles.
San Diego last saw the games locally in 2008 for a Moto X event at Qualcomm Stadium during the event's run in LA. Prior to 2008, San Diego hosted the games in 1998 and 1997 in front of more than 200,000 fans each year.
