SHANGHAI, June 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The inaugural Kia World Extreme Games (KWEG) kicked off to a fantastic start yesterday, with the final tally of participating US athletes numbering the most among all participating countries, at the widely anticipated extreme games event the KIC Jiangwan Sports Centre, located in Yang Pu District, Shanghai, China.
The prestigious multi-action sports event will take place over four thrilling days from 9 to 12 June, with exclusive LIVE coverage on FOX SPORTS from 10 - 12 June from 4 - 6pm HKT.
Nearly 200 of the world's top action sports athletes from some 30 countries and regions have converged into Shanghai to compete for glory and the prize purse of USD250,000.
The inaugural Kia World Extreme Games is the renewed collaboration between FOX Sports Event Management, part of FOX International Channels (FIC) Asia, News Corporation's international multi-media business and Asia's leading pay-TV network, and title sponsor Kia Motors as part of a new three-year deal that will take Asia's biggest action sports event to world-class status.
Highlights of the event that have thrilled fans and participants alike are the increase of competition categories from three to five, with the latest additions being FMX (Freestyle Motocross) and Speed Climbing. FMX will also showcase some of the world's best riders in gravity-defying stunts in the new 'Step-Up' competition. The remaining three competition categories are BMX Freestyle, Skateboarding and Aggressive In-line Skating.
Part of the stellar list of action sport athletes include familiar names such as skateboarding veteran, Andy MacDonald, and rising star, 2012 X-Games Big Air medalist, 19-year old Nolan Munroe, both from the USA. As for Aggressive In-Line, the ever-popular Yasutoko brothers from Japan have returned to compete. The younger of the Yasutoko brothers, Takeshi Yasutoko will be striving for his seventh consecutive gold medal at the Games. Other names that will set to thrill action sports fans include returning champion of BMX Vert and mini-MegaRamp Vince Byron to defend his crown against returning runner-up Zach Warden.
On Sunday, the KWEG crowned its first champion in the women's speed climbing category, 23-year old Russian Yulina Levochkina. The only women's category in the KWEG, the event was fiercely contested, with strong Asian participation, with climbers from China, Indonesia and Thailand.
However despite the stellar Asian performance, Levochkina edged in front with a winning time of 21.9 seconds, followed by runner up, 25-year old Indonesian Tita Supita, who clocked an impressive time of 23.79 seconds with Russian Anna Tsyganova coming in third.
Levochkina, who was a record-breaker at last year's IFSC World Climbing Championships held in France said, "I'm so unbelievably happy right now, it was a great competition and a tough fight from Tita (runner-up). I'm also happy because I'll be buying a car with the prize money I just won!"
"This has been a great event for me and I hope to return next year to the Games if I have the opportunity to do so."
Sherman Tan, Senior Director of Sales FOX SPORTS Event Management, said, "We're pleased to see such a great response to the Kia World Extreme Games, with so many participating athletes from not only the USA but also from Asia since we started organising the action sports event here in Shanghai."
"This truly reflects the increasing popularity of action sports here as well as the growing recognition of the caliber of the Kia World Extreme Games beyond China. I'm confident we will be able to scale new heights with this event, further strengthening its position as the pinnacle of action sports in this part of the world."
The Kia World Extreme Games will also be broadcast LIVE on locations across FOX SPORTS networks across Asia from 10 - 12 June from 4 - 6pm HKT, as well as on Shanghai Media Group's Great Sports. As part of the FIC network, the Games will also be broadcast in the USA, Latin America, Australia, Europe, Middle East and Africa at a later date.
Be sure to catch the exciting BMX Vert Finals, and Men's Speed Climbing finals happening later today!
For more information, please log on to www.kiaworldextremegames.com
For event images, please click the following to download:
https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/4ba9e6d7b050366ace9d7e1d4e738f5c20130610005604/2c1523db8b79d7edc9f6b0025d41e68920130610005604/a34160
About FOX International Channels
FOX International Channels (FIC) is News Corporation's international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 350 wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports and movie channels across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, in 37 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions reach over 1.1 billion households worldwide. We also operate a global online advertising unit .FOX ("dot-fox") specialized in online video and display, and four TV production houses. For more information, please visit www.foxinternationalchannels.com
In Asia, FIC operates or distributes over 33 channel brands, including the FOX, STAR and National Geographic brands, with over 100 feeds across more than 15 markets, As the leading pay-TV network in the region, FIC reaches more than 550 million cumulative subscribers across Asia Pacific and the Middle East with offices in Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Australia, New Zealand and the UAE.
FIC Sports networks includes FOX Sports, the channel that delivers some of the most compelling LIVE sport events from around the world, including the flagship sports news show FOX Sports CENTRAL; FOX Sports PLUS (HD), the high-definition 24-hour sports channel; FOX SPORTS NEWS the first 24/7 sports news channel; STAR Sports, which features a wide variety of premium sports content; STAR Cricket, the comprehensive cricket channel; STAR Cricket HD, the High Definition comprehensive cricket channel; FOX SPORTS PLAY, the broadband network providing LIVE and on-demand sports properties and additional exclusive content; FOX SPORTS MOBILE, the mobile application that allows fans to access on-demand, premium world-class mobile sports content and FOXSPORTSASIA.com, the online destination for comprehensive sports content.
About Kia Motors Corporation
Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart was founded in 1944 and is Korea's oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. Over 2.7 million Kia vehicles a year are produced in nine manufacturing and assembly operations in five countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering around 150 countries. Kia today has over 47,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of US$42 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive partner of FIFA the governing body of the FIFA World Cup™.
Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan "The Power to Surprise" represents the company's global commitment to surprise the world by providing exciting and inspiring experiences that go beyond expectations. In 2012, Kia entered the ranks of the world's top 100 global brands according to Interbrand's Top 100 Best Global Brands list, debuting in 87th place with brand value of US$4.1 billion.
If you would like to receive daily event updates and for more information, please contact:
Gwendolyn Cheong
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
FOX International Channels
Tel: +85-150-2140-6569
Email: gwendolyn.cheong@fox.com
