Monster Energy, The Official Energy Drink Partner of X Games Chiba 2026, Announces Official Roster of Top Competing Athletes
- MoonPay X Games League (XGL) 2026 Summer Season Continues in Chiba, Japan, from July 4–5
- Monster Energy Supports XGL as Founding Partner, Sends Skateboard, BMX, and Moto X Athletes
CHIBA, Japan, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's biggest action sports spectacle returns to Japan! Monster Energy, the official energy drink partner of X Games, is ready to Unleash the Beast with its elite team of world-class athletes at X Games Chiba at Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan, this weekend. Read on to see the official athlete lineup.
From July 4–5, MoonPay X Games Chiba 2026 marks the second official competition of the new MoonPay X Games League (XGL) 2026 Summer Season. Supported by Monster Energy as an X Games League Founding Partner, XGL is the world's first year-round, team-based, co-ed league in action sports, where city-based clubs and individual athletes rack up points across the season for a shot at the championship.
As the 77th edition of the X Games, MoonPay X Games Chiba 2026 brings together more than 80 athletes from 17 countries to compete in Skateboard, BMX, and Moto X. Over the course of two action-packed days, athletes will battle for 45 medals across 15 medal events while stacking points for their XGL clubs. Makuhari Messe event center will provide fans with a full festival experience, including live music performances, brand activations, merchandise, and street food.
Fans in the U.S. can catch all the action live via the Roku Sports Channel. Broadcasts will air on television in the U.S. on July 10 (ESPN), July 11 (ESPN 2), and July 12 (ABC, ESPN2). Fans outside the U.S. can stream X Games Chiba on YouTube or Kick.com.
Look out for the following Monster Energy athletes at X Games Chiba 2026:
Skateboarding
The skate action at X Games Chiba 2026 kicks off on Saturday with the Monster Energy Women's Skateboard Street event, where 17-year-old Liz Akama from Miyagi, Japan, drops in with a chance to add to her seven X Games medals (three silver, four bronze) after claiming bronze at X Games Sacramento 2026. The Olympic silver medalist is hunting her first X Games gold in front of a hometown crowd. Let's get it!
Next up on Saturday, Women's Skateboard Vert promises one of the biggest storylines of the summer: 16-year-old Arisa Trew from Palm Beach, Australia, arrives in Chiba on the doorstep of history. After claiming two gold medals at Sacramento to tie snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis's all-time women's X Games gold medal record (ten gold), any victory this weekend in Chiba would put Trew alone at the top of the all-time women's leaderboard, and she competes in three events. Trew will battle 19-year-old Monster Army rider Raicca Ventura from São Paulo, Brazil, who clinched Women's Skateboard Park bronze as her first career X Games medal in Sacramento and returns hungry for more.
Prepare for boundary-pushing tricks in the Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street Best Trick event on Saturday, where Brazilian street technicians Filipe Mota and Giovanni Vianna will go head-to-head with two-time World Champion Toa Sasaki from Mie, Japan. Mota comes in hot after claiming bronze in this event at X Games Sacramento 2026. Also, watch for rising star Julian Agliardi from Long Beach, California, bringing his tech skills and incredible consistency to the session.
Rounding out Saturday's skate action, Men's Skateboard Vert unfolds with a heavy Monster Energy squad: Fresh off two bronze medals at Sacramento, 26-year-old Tom Schaar from Malibu, California, returns to expand his collection of 19 X Games medals (four gold, four silver, eleven bronze). Schaar will go run-for-run against ten-time X Games medalist and crowd favorite Moto Shibata from Osaka, Japan, and 17-year-old Monster Army rider JD Sanchez from Pleasanton, California, dropping in as the recent silver medalist at X Games Sacramento.
Sunday's skate program opens with Men's Skateboard Park, where Schaar looks to reclaim the top step after settling for bronze at Sacramento. Schaar will battle 15-year-old Monster Army recruit and current World Champion Egoitz Bijueska from Bilbao, Spain, who made history at Sacramento as the first Spanish skateboarder ever to medal at X Games with a silver. Bijueska is hungry for his second X Games medal – and possibly his first gold – in only his second-ever X Games appearance.
Expect a throwdown for the ages in Women's Skateboard Vert Best Trick on Sunday. Trew returns as the defending champion after her signature switch McTwist earned the tenth gold of her career at Sacramento. Now she's chasing the record for the most winning female athlete in X Games history (at only 16 years old). Also keep an eye out for 19-year-old Asahi Kaihara from Osaka, Japan, hungry to build on her Sacramento bronze and expand her collection of four X Games medals (one silver, three bronze). Witness history!
Sunday also features Men's Skateboard Vert Best Trick, where Schaar, Shibata, and Sanchez revisit their vert rivalry in the intense one-trick-wins-all format. A three-time silver medalist in the discipline, Shibata returns in pursuit of his first Best Trick gold. Will the Japanese crowd carry Shibata to victory? All eyes on the vert ramp for next-level progression!
The Monster Energy Women's Skateboard Street Best Trick session brings another spotlight moment for Akama. In her second event of the weekend, the Olympic silver medalist has another shot at gold in a discipline that rewards bold, one-shot statement tricks. And Akama has the bag of tricks to get it done!
Later Sunday, Women's Skateboard Park closes out the women's skate action at X Games Chiba 2026 with Trew potentially chasing yet another gold on her quest to claim the all-time record. She'll face competition from 17-year-old Cocona Hiraki from Hokkaido, Japan, as the 2023 WST World Champion and Trew's longtime rival in the discipline. And with Ventura looking to add to her recent bronze, the stage is set for a park battle to remember!
The skate action culminates on Sunday night in the Monster Energy Men's Skateboard Street final – and it's a stacked roster: Newly minted Monster Energy team rider Sora Shirai from Sagamihara, Japan, arrives as the current world No. 1 ranked street skateboarder and back-to-back WST World Cup Rome champion. Shirai will battle fellow Japanese rider Sasaki and American upstart Agliardi as the bronze medalist from X Games Salt Lake City 2025. And let's not forget a heavy Brazilian squad including Mota, Vianna, and two-time Skateboard Street gold medalist Kelvin Hoefler in a stacked final. Talk about closing out the skate action on a high note!
BMX
BMX competitions at X Games Chiba 2026 kick off Saturday morning in Monster Energy Men's BMX Street, where 31-year-old Kevin Peraza from Tucson, Arizona, returns hungry after claiming silver at Sacramento. Peraza will battle Sacramento bronze medalist Jordan Godwin from Cardiff, Wales, who shocked the system with an upset gold medal at X Games Salt Lake City 2025. Completing the squad, German tech innovator Felix Prangenberg and 2023 winner Boyd Hilder from Australia will bring their skills to the battle. Not to be missed!
The Women's BMX Park event makes its historic first appearance in Japan on Saturday, with a huge storyline attached: Newly signed Monster Energy team rider Miharu Ozawa from Gifu, Japan, drops in as the recent Sacramento gold medalist and 2025 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup overall champion. Ozawa dominated her X Games debut in Sacramento with a crushing lead, and she returns ready to defend her crown. Also gunning for gold, Kim Lea Mueller from Remscheid, Germany, comes off Sacramento bronze looking to expand her two X Games bronze medals, and Chilean Olympic athlete Macarena Perez Grasset wants her first podium.
Peraza drops in for his second contest of the weekend later on Saturday when Men's BMX Park stokes the Japanese crowd with a heavy lineup: For a chance to improve on his Sacramento bronze, Peraza will go head-to-head against two-time BMX Park gold medalist and Monster Energy teammate Daniel Sandoval from Corona, California, alongside three-time X Games medalist Jose Torres of Córdoba, Argentina. It's bound to get heated!
Sunday morning gets rolling with BMX Park Best Trick, where Ryan Williams from Sunshine Coast, Australia, arrives on the hottest streak in action sports: The 32-year-old just claimed double gold at Sacramento in BMX Park Best Trick and BMX Dirt Best Trick, plus silver in BMX Dirt, growing his career total to 16 X Games medals. Williams also enters Chiba as the current XGL points leader (280 points) after his Sacramento performance. Hungry for more, "R-Willy" will battle Sacramento BMX Dirt gold medalist Brady Baker from Toms River, New Jersey, along with Peraza (pulling triple-duty this weekend), eleven-time X Games medalist Sandoval, and three-time X Games gold medalist Mike Varga from Canada. The stakes are high in this one!
Moto X
Saturday night in Chiba closes with the always-progressive Moto X Best Trick final. The elite field is stacked with X Games icons: Japanese FMX legend Taka Higashino from Osaka returns to celebrate his 20th consecutive year competing in Moto X at X Games, a milestone few athletes ever reach, and is looking for another podium spot as a six-time X Games medalist. He'll battle 25-year-old Ben Richards from Wagga Wagga, Australia, coming off a Sacramento silver to expand his three X Games medals (two silver, one bronze). Also throwing down heavy tricks, three-time silver medalist Genki Watanabe brings his stylish flair to the super jump at Makuhari Messe. Prepare for a classic chapter of freestyle motocross history!
Don't miss the action at X Games Chiba 2026 when the Monster Energy team proceeds to Unleash the Beast!
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Visit www.monsterenergy.com for exclusive updates from X Games Chiba 2026, including photos, videos, and contest results as they happen. Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
For interview or photo requests, contact Kim Dresser.
About Monster Energy
Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock-and-roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its athletes and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, bands, believers, and fans. See more about Monster Energy, including all of its drinks, at www.monsterenergy.com.
CONTACT: Kim Dresser C: (949) 300-5546 E: [email protected]
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