Women Athletes of X Games to Earn More Prize Money

Apparently, women skateboarders have some bold moves away from competition as well as during it.

The X Games are taking place this weekend in Los Angeles. But despite its "cool" image, these Games may still be a bit behind the times. A Chicago Tribune article suggests that some of the women's events are lagging behind men in both prize money and TV coverage.

But thanks to a group of women skateboarders, that may change. After meeting with John Skipper, an EVP with ESPN, the winnings for women's skateboarding events, Street and Vert, were increased to $15,000 for first place, $10,000 for second and $5,000 for third. The women's events may also get more TV coverage during next year's X Games.

The X Games have only been around 12 years or so and are geared toward a young, hip audience. You would think that equality issues would be less of a problem than other events that have been around much longer, such as Wimbledon.

Maybe it's their youth, or maybe it's the type of sport they're in, but I think the women athletes of the X Games are more likely to challenge conventional rules in the event and demand greater equality. If so, we can expect to see more changes like this in the future.