Andrew Luck and Stanford. Adrian Wojnarowski and St. Bonaventure University. Sometimes, best candidates for a job are distinguished alumni.
Add freeskiing pioneer Kristi Leskinen to that list. About 20 years ago, she competed in the women’s freeski superpipe contest at the X Games and won a bronze medal. Now, she’ll be in charge of X Games alumni relations.
Photo: X Games/Courtesy
“I’m thrilled to take on this new role as director of alumni relations because I believe it’s the next step—an opportunity to recognize and give back to the athletes who have built and continue to shape this incredible legacy,” Leskinen said in a press release. “This new role feels like an extension of that. I have the opportunity to leave things better than I found them, and I’m so excited to get to work.”
Leskinen was born in Pennsylvania, and grew up skiing at nearby Seven Springs Mountain Resort and Hidden Valley Resort. She was the only women at her first U.S. Open competing in the Big Air contest, and was just one of a handful of women competing in the superpipe. Leskinen went on to be in reality TV shows like The Superstars and The Amazing Race.
Leskinen will focus on creating new opportunities with a network of action sports athletes who have made X Games what it is over that past 30 years, according to a press release.
It's the latest move from the brand that has been synonymous with action sports since its inception in the 1990s. CEO Jeremy Bloom – a former Olympic skier and college football player – took over at the end of 2024. The latest X Games in Aspen featured an artificial intelligence aide to judging the superpipe contest. A new team format dubbed the X Games League will launch in 2026, and features teams in eight cities and a points system. Eight action sports stars that are considered founders and offered equity in the league, and all athletes will be provided a salary, lodging, and health insurance.
“What’s the goal? Pretty simple,” Bloom said in an interview with Snowboarder in January. “Draft the athletes that have the highest on podium percentage. That's how you score points. We want to make it dead simple, like, if you're on a podium, you're scored a point for your team.”
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