The Winter X Games are held in January or February and the Summer X Games are usually held in August, both in the United States. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, and prize money. The competition often features new tricks such as Tony Hawk’s 900 in skateboarding, Anthony Napolitan with the first double front flip on a bicycle, Travis Pastrana’s double backflip in Freestyle Motocross, and Levi Lavallee’s double backflip in Freestyle Snocross. Concurrent with competition is the “X Fest” sports and music festival, which offers live music, athlete autograph sessions and interactive elements. The location of the Winter X Games is in Aspen, Colorado through 2012, while the location for the Summer X Games is in Los Angeles through 2009. The X Games also has international competitions and demos around the world that are held at varying times throughout the year. The games are shown live on television. The Winter X Games is, as described by ESPN (2008), a competition compiled of the greatest winter action sport athletes from around the world competing an annual basis. The competition contains day and evening events including skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling. The first Winter X Games took place at Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, in 1997. The following two years, the Games were held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. The two years following that, the Games were held in Mount Snow, Vermont. And since 2002 the Winter X Games have been held at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, and according to ESPN they will continue to be held there through 2012

The invite into the X Games ‘Best Trick’ event, is the perfect opportunity for Sinclair to show off his talents on the world stage, in what is the biggest and most decorated action sports event in the world. The event consists of only 8 of the very best Freestyle Motocross Riders on the planet, invited to do just two jumps to be scored by the judges individually. The athlete who performs the biggest, most difficult and technical trick wins the converted Gold Medal