1 Back in the early 1990s. Ron Semiao decided he wanted to create the olympics of extreme sport. He wanted to bring together athletes from all the different extreme spo for one big competition-the Extreme Games.
2 At the time, Ron was working for a US television network called ESPN. He knew sports that extreme athletes were very passionate about their sports, and he wanted to give them a way to show off their skills to a audience. With ESPN's help, the first large Extreme Games were held in 1995. But even Ron couldn't have known how successful they would be. Large crowds turned up just to watch the athletes practise!
3 There are now several big extreme sports competitions every year. The Extreme Games are now called the X Games, and they are held twice a year. The Summer X Games include sports like skateboarding in-line skating, while the Winter X Games is for and snowboarding and other extreme winter sports.
4 Unlike large sporting events, such as the olympics, some of the events at most other the Games are free. Ron wanted to make sure that families could come to the games. The kids of today have as much admiration for extreme athletes as they do for athletes in other sports, says Ron. Well, thanks to Ron, the children of today can see all the extreme sports they want to at the X Games.