Behind The Scenes

A city grows within Los Angeles
for X Games 2012

LOS ANGELES — This city has been home to the X Games for the 10th year in a row, with the latest competition concluding at the L.A. LIVE complex today. Live coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on various ESPN platforms.

Over the years, the location and set up of the games has continued to change and evolve, as does the level of competition. This year is no exception.

The set up for this event began on May 25, and took approximately 35 days and 200 people to complete. New to this year’s event were the Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare and the placement of the Big Air ramp on Chick Hearn Court.

There are a lot of moving pieces for an event this size being held in a city like Los Angeles, and ESPN’s Operations group helps to organize and coordinate it all.

“It’s always busy here with events going on at L.A. LIVE while we are setting up the X Games,” said Michael Pandolfo, associate director of event operations for the X Games. “L.A. LIVE is not strictly a sports arena.”

This year, the Operations team has had to contend with L.A. Kings hockey games, their Stanley Cup parade, and later, a Van Halen concert.

“It makes loading in and out difficult at times, but we manage,” said Pandolfo.

Anthony Dittmann, director of venue operations, has been working on the X Games for 15 years and works closely with Pandolfo. Another challenge for the Operations team includes the coordination of closing down a busy L.A. street, Figueroa, for building the spectator bridge three weeks in advance, and then shutting it down again for the Rally Car racing event itself, and then the tearing down of the course.

“You’re jamming a huge event in and around the streets around L.A., including one of the city’s largest arteries, Figueroa, and trying to manage that,” Dittmann said. “We also try to be sensitive to the people that work here 365 days a year.

“We have a pretty heavy impact on those folks since it’s not just an event for us — it’s an event for them, as well.”

Despite the challenges and the long hours of work and planning, both Pandolfo and Dittman love the event and their work.

“I am lucky because I live here, so I can still go home at the end of the day which is great for me,” Pandolfo said. “Also, the people are amazing to get to know and work with.”

Some X Games Fun Facts

Construction:
50 Days that X Games staff will be onsite building, constructing or tearing down

Competitors:
4 Number of athletes who have competed in all 18 X Games (Bob Burnquist, Dennis McCoy, Rune Glifberg and Andy Macdonald)
22 Countries represented by athletes at X Games Los Angeles 2012
24 Most medals in X Games history, held by Dave Mirra
1,878 Athletes have competed in the X Games, through XG 2011

Events:
18 Years that Skateboard and BMX Freestyle have been in the X Games
20 Number of Disciplines at X Games Los Angeles 2012

Course:
353 Length, in feet, the spectator bridge extends over Figueroa Street and Gilbert Lindsay Plaza
2,437 The length, in feet, of one Rally course lap using the dirt-to-dirt jump
3,221 The length, in feet, of one Rally course Joker lap
27 Height, in feet, of the Big Air ramp’s quarterpipe
70 Height, in feet, the Big Air ramp elevator ascends

Materials:
300 Tuff Blocks used on the Moto X courses
1,004 Two-way radios with 76 two-way radio channels dedicated to the event
400,000 Pounds of concrete to anchor the Big Air ramp
75 Trucks of scaffolding
4.3 Million Pounds of concrete used to barricade the Rally course

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