Shaun White is among the most decorated X Games athletes

The Salt Lake City event marked the X Games’ 30th anniversary

At the 2025 Salt Lake City X Games, Ryan Williams landed his first BMX Dirt gold medal with a triple backflip; 14-year-old Heili Sirvio and 15-year-old Arisa Trew made groundbreaking wins in women's Park and Vert Best Trick; and Justin Dowell took BMX Park gold.

The X Games is an annual extreme sports competition

The official X Games site offers event schedules, athlete profiles, competition results, and news for both summer and winter editions—along with videos and highlights from skateboarding, BMX, motocross, and other action sports.

Ryan Sheckler won X Games gold at only 13 years old

In 2003, Ryan Sheckler won the skateboard park event at the X Games, becoming the youngest gold medalist in the competition’s history at just 13 years old.

See how the Winter X Games course is built

Winter X Games courses are custom-built over weeks, with crews moving thousands of tons of snow to create features like halfpipes and jumps—incorporating athlete input to ensure challenging designs that push progression and safety.

The top 10 most unbreakable Winter Olympics records

Some athletes and teams dominate a sport or an era. This video compiles the records least likely to be surpassed (and excludes those that are impossible due to rule changes). From the Dutch sweep of four podiums in speed skating to Eric Heiden's five individual gold medals at Lake Placed in 1980, watch this list of the Games' most enduring feats.

One halfpipe skier qualified for the Olympics via loopholes

Freestyle skier Elizabeth Swaney reached the 2018 Winter Olympics by completing safe, trick-free halfpipe runs and accumulating ranking points in low-participation events. The story, told humorously in this brief video, highlights how qualification systems can reward persistence and rule optimization over peak athletic performance.

Snowboarding was first included in the Olympics in 1998

Snowboarding entered the Winter Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, featuring giant slalom and halfpipe events—a move influenced by the sport’s rapid growth and mainstream exposure through competitions like the X Games.

Bob Burnquist delivered a near-perfect vert run at the 2001 X Games

Bob Burnquist scored 98.00 in skateboard vert at the 2001 X Games, executing tricks never before attempted in competition—widely regarded as one of the greatest vert runs in history.

The X Games pioneered broadcast innovation with live drone coverage

In 2015, ESPN used untethered drones for the first time in US live sports—deploying them at the X Games to capture aerial footage from angles previously impossible.

The X Games hired new CEO Jeremy Bloom in December 2024

In this podcast interview, X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom reflects on his first time running the competition—discussing event logistics, athlete relations, and strategies to grow the brand under new ownership.

Tony Hawk’s rise from outsider to skateboarding legend

In this podcast, Tony Hawk discusses his path from being an outsider in a niche sport to becoming skateboarding’s most recognizable figure—reflecting on competition dominance, business ventures, and lessons learned throughout his career.

Leticia Bufoni is a world-class skateboarder from Brazil

She has won six gold medals at the X Games and represented her country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the debut year of the sport in the Olympics. She’s seen as one of the most influential women in extreme sports and also performs stunts with Red Bull.

How one jockey became one of horse racing's most successful riders

Jockey Victor Espinoza is one of the most successful jockeys in recent American racing history, winning the Triple Crown in 2015 on American Pharoah, as well as seven Triple Crown races. This Paulick Report article, which came out prior to his induction into the Hall of Fame, dives into his background, career highlights, and what he focused on to become a successful jockey.

Tom Brady has played in and won the most Super Bowls of any NFL player

Appearing in 10 Super Bowls and winning seven—both NFL records—Tom Brady captured championships with two different teams, an unmatched résumé that has led many to regard the former sixth-round pick as the greatest player in league history.

View the list of most followed users on X

X, formerly Twitter, may now face more competition from rival social networks than ever, but it also had over 650 million active users as of early 2025. Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Cristiano Ronaldo led the list of most-followed accounts then.

Ashrita Furman, owner of over 600 world records

What does it take to break so many world records? Hardcore spiritual discipline, at least according to Ashrita Furman, who was trained by an ascetic teacher to do challenging things. Read up on his accomplishments in this photo essay.

‘Snow White’ was honored by the Oscars two years in a row

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was not only Hollywood’s first full-length animated film—it was also Disney’s first massive hit and, at the time, was the highest-grossing film of all time. The Academy Awards honored the film in 1937 with a nomination for best music, though the film didn’t win the award. The following year, the Academy explicitly acknowledged the film’s unprecedented success with a one-of-a-kind award, a rarity in the Academy’s storied history.

20 of the world's most iconic big rock wall climbs

Big wall climbs are tall rock faces that require climbers to "pitch" multiple times during the ascent—that is, reuse a rope. They also often portaledge, or sleep, at least once during the climb. Topping the list is California's El Capitan.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation

Ewen snagged the win for "most balloons blown up in one hour by an individual" in 2011 with 582 balloons, and then reclaimed the title in 2017 with 910 balloons inflated in just 60 minutes.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Explore the extensive security in and around the White House

The White House is one of the most secure buildings in the world. Protected by the Secret Service, it features armed patrols, rooftop snipers, barriers, and sensors—layered defenses designed to deter intrusion.

Some athletes warm up with equipment from other sports

Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani uses a cricket bat; his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a javelin. Quarterback CJ Stroud shoots free throws. The reasons are partially physical (it's good to exercise different parts of your body) and partially mental (it's nice to take the pressure off with someone else's game).

Steve Jobs was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

In 2022, the White House posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Steve Jobs, recognizing Jobs’s work as the cofounder and longtime CEO of Apple, as well as a longtime leader at Pixar.

Drew Scanlon is the man behind the Blinking White Guy meme

A San Francisco resident, Scanlon now works as a video producer for Twitch and hosts a pair of podcasts about Formula One and iconic movies. He also now using his fame to raise money for an MS charity.

Whitman's words have appeared in numerous shows and movies

Whitman's poems have had significant screen time in movies like “Dead Poets Society” and television shows like “Breaking Bad.”

Shaquille O’Neal showed up to a meeting with Nike wearing head-to-toe Reebok

Nike wanted to sign then-newcomer Shaquille O’Neill, but didn’t offer Shaq his own shoe because they had already signed Alonzo Mourning. Shaq said he felt like Nike didn’t understand his potential, and the company wouldn’t have given him as much creative control as Reebok would.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.