X Games Minneapolis 2018: Jimmy Wilkins wins gold in Skateboard vert – full results

X Games Minneapolis is under way and the skateboard vert competition headed the Thursday night action. Here are the results.

The X Games kicked off Thursday and the night was capped with the always-exciting skateboard vert competition. The half pipe was stacked with legends of old and the new wave of talent making the field as great as ever.

It was slick in Minneapolis Thursday night. The pipe final was pushed back slightly due to rain, but once everything settled, the skaters were ready to go. Big air, big tricks and big falls highlighted this competition.

Moto Shibata was the first to up the bar, landing his signature kamikaze trick on his first run, but American skater Jimmy Wilkins sat atop the leaderboard after round 1.

He put down a near-flawless run that got him a score of 89.00, putting him in a great position to go big for the rest of the contest.

Mitchi Brusco was a favorite to medal leading up to the competition and he showed why on his second run. Mitchie went back-to-back with a body varial 540 into a varial 540 on a run that was packed full of great combinations. It was enough to put him in second place with an 87.00.

Shibata would have himself a solid run in round 2, attempting to join legends Bucky Lasek and Pierre-Luc Gagnon as the only skaters to repeat as vert champions. His second run netted him an 87.33, moving him back into second place.

It was clear to everyone watching that Lasek was true to what he said before the contest in that he was going to go big and try to put down a winning run. The top three were Wilkins, Shibata and Brusco, all above 87.00 points heading into the third and final run.

Andy MacDonald and Paul-Luc Ronchetti bailed early in their final runs, taking them out of the contest. Clay Kreiner stomped his best run of the contest.

It wasn’t enough to put him into the top three, but he’ll have two more chances at a medal as he’s the only skater at these X Games competing in the vert, big air and park contests.

Sandro Dias went big in his final run as well, barely missing on a 900. Jono Schwan and Marcelo Bastos missed on their final runs, taking them out of it and locking up the top three.

Brusco fell on his last run as well, leaving the gold medal up for grabs between Wilkins and Shibata.

Wilkins fell and it all came down to Shibata, who had the spotlight to win his second straight gold. Unfortunately for Moto, he lost speed after having to save a fall with a squat down and Jimmy WIlkins is your X Games vert gold medallist.

Here are the final results:

This first competition set the pace for what is going to be an incredible weekend of X Games action. Be sure to tune in and watch it all, and hang with us at FanSided for all the best coverage. Congratulations Jimmy Wilkins, what a way to kick off the X Games.

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