Malibu's Tom Schaar to Take Center Stage at Summer X Games

The 18th edition of the X Games begin in and around Staples Center today, one month earlier than usual to avoid having to compete against the Summer Olympics for television viewers.

Changes include moving the Big Air skateboarding competition -- and its 60-foot ramp -- from Lot 7 to Chick Hearn Court, between what organizers are dubbing the Event Deck atop the West Parking Garage and the Convention Center, and slight alterations to the RallyCross course.

Skateboarder Shaun White, the biggest name in extreme sports, won't be competing after spending the year concentrating on training and competing in snowboarding.

One contender to take his place in the spotlight is 12-year-old skateboarder Tom Schaar of Malibu, the first person to land a 1080 -- going three complete revolutions -- off the mini-MegaRamp quarterpipe.

Schaar was identified today as one of four future skateboarding stars to know on the Bleacher Report.

The competition began at 10:30 a.m. with the elimination portion of the Hometown Heroes skateboarding competition on the Event Deck.

Today's schedule includes the elimination portion of the Big Air skateboarding competition, in which the initial field of 18 -- which includes Schaar and 11-year-olds Jagger Eaton and Trey Wood -- will be reduced to 12 Today's lone final will be in Moto X Freestyle, where 10 riders will tackle a complex dirt course inside Staples Center made up of a variety of different jumps.

Scoring is based on overall impression, tricks, execution, style, use of the course and landings. This is the 10th consecutive year the extreme sports competition has been held in the Los Angeles area.