SAN FRANCISCO -- Sunshine and exciting competition opened the first day of the 1999 ESPN X Games at the main venue on Piers 30 and 32, and at the street luge venue on Pt. Lobos Ave. After spending the last two years in San Diego, the X Games moved up the coast to San Francisco for 1999 and 2000. The City by the Bay welcomed the event, setting a first day attendance mark as 31,346 caught climbing, bicycyle stunt, street luge and skateboarding action.

Shamy, Piszczek win Sport Climbing Speed
The first athletes atop the podium tonight were Sport Climbing Speed winners Aaron Shamy and Renata Piszczek. Shamy (Salt Lake City, Utah) captured the goal this time around after a second-place finish at last year's Games in San Diego. The 18-year-old former Junior International champion set the wall record, by reaching the peak in 12.61 seconds in the final run.

San Francisco's Chris Bloch was second and Russian Vladimir Netsvetaev finished third. The same three climbers occupied the winner circles at last year's X Games. Netsvaetaev snagged the gold, Shamy won the silver, and Bloch took home the bronze medal.

"I'll come back next year and redeem myself," said Bloch. "This year there was a very impressive level of competition. Any of the 16 people invited could have won."

For the women, Piszcek (Krakow, Poland) won the gold in her first X Games appearance after placing fifth at the 1998 European Championships. "I did not expect to win...this is very beautiful," Piszeck said.

Olga Zakharova (Kharkov, Ukraine) finished second and Etta Hendrawati (Yogyarkata, Indonesia) placed third. Last year's winner Elena Ovchinnikova (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished seventh.

Mirra qualifies first in bike stunt street prelims
Six-time X Games Gold medal winner Dave Mirra was the top qualifier in today's preliminaries of the Bicycle Stunt Street competition. Mirra (Greenville, N.C.) scored 86.30 to qualify first in the field of 20, which was trimmed down to ten for Saturday's finals competition. Spain's Ruben Alcantara was second, followed by Ryan Nyquist of Los Gatos, Calif.

Mirra is the three-time defending champion of the street competition. He has also won three consecutive vert titles at the X Games.

Hawk heads to finals in top slot
When the skateboarding vert finals begin Saturday night, familiar faces will hit the ramp in search of X Games gold. Tony Hawk (Carlsbad, Calif.), the 1997 and 1995 gold medalist, advances in the top slot, recording a score of 92.50 on his second run. His vert doubles partner, and 1998 gold medalist, Andy Macdonald (San Diego, Calif.) holds the No. 2 spot, followed by Bucky Lasek (Carlsbad, Calif.). Hawk and Macdonald have teamed up for two consecutive gold medals in doubles competition.

The field of 19 was cut down to 10 for the finals which will begin at 7:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, June 26.

Idoice, Fradet win Gold up in the sky
Eric Fradet's experience jumping off planes paid off as he and cameraflyer teammate Alex Idoice (Macon, France) captured the Gold medal in Skysurfing earlier this week in Monterey. The duo scored 95.85 points and defeated Stefan Klaus (Zuckenriet, Switzerland) and Brian Rogers (Menifee, Calif.) by a point. Fradet (Titusville, Fla.), who has spent more time in the air than most skysurfers, has jumped out of a plane 19,000 times. The 40-year-old skysurfer has been on the pro tour since 1996, but never won an X Games medal until Monday.

Oliver Furrer (Ermatingun, Switzerland) and Marcus Heggli (Paris, Calif.) won the bronze medal.

The X Games are taking place at Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco from June 25 through July 3. The Games will bring more than 400 of the world's best alternative sport athletes, who will compete for nearly $1 million in prize money, to the Bay Area. For the 1999 X Games, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will combine to televise 28.5 hours of original programming (June 27-July 5). ESPN International will distribute the event to a global audience, and ESPN.com will also provide extensive on-line coverage.