Buyten to be in X Games

LAS ANGELES -- Carson City resident and professional freestyle motocross rider Matt Buyten has qualified to participate in the Step Up competition at X Games IX in Los Angeles to be held August 14-17.

The ninth annual X Games in Los Angeles will showcase more than 300 of the world's best action sports athletes competing in a variety of sports for medals and prize money. Staples Center will serve as the primary venue for the X Games, and will host competitions in Aggressive In-line Skate, Bike Stunt, Moto X, and Skateboard. The Moto X Freestyle event will be held at the Los Angeles Coliseum at night under the lights on Aug. 16. Wakeboarding will take place at Long Beach Marine Stadium Aug. 17. Competitions taking place the week prior will include Surfing at Huntington Beach, Downhill BMX at Woodward West in Stallion Springs and Skateboard Street at a location to be announced.E More than 20 hours of X Games IX original programming will be featured on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Aug. 16-22.

Buyten will be making his X Games debut in Los Angeles. Buyten is part of a growing contingent of Reno-area riders known as the "775 Crew." He won the World Freestyle Association (WFA) Step Up competition in Reno in 2002.E

"That was so awesome," Buyten said. "To win in front of all my friends and against all those great riders, I couldn't ask for anything better than that."

Buyten is the 2002-2003 points leader for the WFA Step Up season.EE

The Step Up competition challenges the athlete to ride up a ramp and jump into the air and over a horizontal bar. If multiple riders clear the bar in one of their two attempts than the mark is raised and the remaining competitors continue until only one competitor is crowned champion.