Davis skateboarder Nyjah Huston ‘stoked’ to make X Games podium after big injuries
Davis native skateboarder Nyjah Huston was in a hospital bed just a month and a half ago. Weeks later, he’s taken home hardware at his home competition.
The summer MoonPay X Games League continued Saturday at Saturday’s Cal Expo, featuring the men’s street skateboarding finals, a marquee event for capital region fans. Huston, a 10-time Summer X Games street gold medalist, competed Saturday as part of the inaugural X Games League format, representing Team New York.
In the last year, Huston has broken his eye socket — twice — and his jaw, as well as lacerating his kidney, per posts on his social media.
“It’s not easy to keep up with all the young guys out there, it’s not easy to keep the body healthy,” said Huston, age 31. “It’s tough stuff, man, so I’m thankful to be feeling good on the board still.”
Staying close to home
The Sacramento X Games was the first time the Davis native competed near his hometown, he said. Prior to Saturday, he’d never competed closer to the Sacramento region than San Francisco.
Huston said he was last in the capital region about six months ago to spend time with family. He explored his old stomping grounds, including the Davis Skate Park, which has since been demolished for renovation.
“It’s crazy how bad that skate park was —it’s funny that that’s actually where I learned how to skate because it really was one of the worst skate parks,” Huston said.
Despite that, Huston said he has fond memories of visiting Sacramento for skateboarding events when he was as young as 4 years old, and he still reps Northern California as his home.
“I’ve been living around Orange County and LA for a long time now, but I’m always proud to tell people (who) think I’m from down there, I’m from a very different place, I’m from small town Davis vibes,” Huston said. “I’m stoked to be back here in NorCal, proud to be from NorCal.”
During his competition, Huston’s first run went rough, with two falls off his board, but he brought it back with a clean second run.
“NorCal, let’s go!” he yelled to the crowd after landing his final trick of the ride.
Huston’s X Games New York teammate Ginwoo Onodera pulled out a strong third skate, scoring 92.33 points and taking over Huston’s leading spot, with the latter skater’s next run determining the podium order.
A smooth start to his third ride appeared to leave Huston poised to earn gold in his home Games, but a fall on his final trick left the hometown hero in second place, with a top score of 89.66 points.
“That is, like, better than the result I was looking for,” Huston said after the contest. “I was stoked to even just land, like, a simple run, and I’m stoked that I landed my second run ... so to come out with second, I’m so stoked.”
Catching big air in the capital
Saturday’s events marked the second of three days in the capital city’s inaugural X Games, after a strong opening Friday with three competitions in BMX, motocross and skateboarding.
James Shidler and Krishna Sabado, of Lathrop, have watched skateboarding and BMX competitions like the X Games and Street League Skateboarding for years, and when they saw the competition would be coming just an hour away from home, they knew they had to see the action.
The pair got to the viewing area for the men’s street skateboard final with plenty of time to spare, snagging a prime spot to watch legends like Huston and Onodera.
“I grew up watching (Huston),” Shidler said. “I can’t wait to see him.”
“And hopefully the (women),” Sabado added.
Olympic gold medalist Arisa Trew secured her second winning result of the weekend with a switch McTwist — a 540-degree twist taking off from her opposite side while grabbing the middle of the board — during women’s vert best trick, which featured a field of athletes averaging only 16 1/2 years old. Trew is 16.
In the Dave Mirra Men’s BMX Park Best Trick competition, competitor Ryan Williams, from Australia, won with a first-of-its-kind front flip 540 trick off the edge of the Tower Bridge-painted pipe.
Patrick Evans made it to the top step of the Motocross Best Trick event with his electric bike, whipping out a no-handed front flip to loud cheers from the crowd before climbing back up the ramp to celebrate.
The first-ever Sacramento X Games wraps up Sunday, with final competitions in skateboard street and vert, and BMX street, park and dirt. More than just a sporting event, live music capped the action on the first two nights, with Kaskade headlining Friday and DJs Mustard and Subtronics set to perform Saturday.
Concluding the games Sunday will be the men’s street skateboarding best trick, in which Huston will once again compete.
“This X Games means more to me than any other X Games I’ve ever skated, because I feel like NorCal hasn’t really gotten enough love for contests and events like this,” Huston said.
.jpg)