The Medal Stand weekly column, Aug. 1

Firth’s Kurtis Downs will be competing in the third X Games of his career this weekend. He was third in BMX Big Air in 2017.

The Medal Stand: Firth’s Kurtis Downs returns to X Games

For the third consecutive year, Firth’s Kurtis Downs is competing at X Games Minneapolis.

A 2010 Firth High School graduate and a member of Nitro Circus Live, Downs competes Friday evening in BMX Big Air. Pocatello native Colton Satterfield, who placed eighth last year and won BMX Big Air at X Games Austin in 2014 and 2015, is also competing in the event. Downs placed third in BMX Big Air at X Games Minneapolis in 2017, his first year competing there. He crashed at last year’s X Games and was unable to compete in the finals.

BMX Big Air takes place at 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time Friday. It will be broadcast on ESPN from 7-9:30 p.m. Mountain Time.

Coming up locally

The annual Great Snake Triathlon takes place Saturday morning. Start times are 7:30 a.m. for the Olympic distance and 8:30 a.m. for the sprint distance. Both distances begin on the west side of the Snake River and north of Pancheri Road.

The annual Choose Respect 5k is 10 a.m. Saturday at Jensen’s Grove in Blackfoot. Proceeds benefit the Bingham Crisis Center. Also in Bingham County, the Firth Lil Buckaroo Rodeo 5k is 7:30 a.m. Saturday in Firth. The race begins and ends at Firth High School.