Extreme sports at the X Games in 2010, with a new event in Europe

(AFP PHOTO / HECTOR MATA)

The X Games have taken off in a big way since its inception in 1993 and this year sees a new entrant in the annual calendar as Tignes in France hosts Europe's first X Games tournament.

Brainchild of ESPN Sports, the X Games capitalized on the growing popularity of extreme sports such as skateboarding, windsurfing, BMX biking and other adrenaline-fuelled sports that in the last 15 years have gone from underground to an accepted part of youth and street culture.

The value of winter sports was soon recognized and though since 1997 a Winter X Games event has been up and running, it is not until March 2010 that the event will come to Europe with a special continental version set to land at the Alpine snow resort of Tignes in southeastern France.

Winter X Games
January 28-31
Aspen, Colorado, USA

Winter X Games Europe
March 10-12
Tignes, France

Summer X Games
July 29 - August 1 (TBC)
Los Angeles, California, USA

http://espn.go.com/action/xgames