Burke to be honored at X Games

Fans and fellow athletes will honor the memory of one of their own this Thursday night at the kick off of the 2012 Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. Late halfpipe champion Sarah Burke, who died Jan. 19 due to injuries sustained in a training accident, will be remembered in a special tribute during the 9 p.m. ET telecast as well as in Aspen with several athletes taking part. 

Burke would have been competing for her fifth X Games gold medal after being key to the X Games’ adoption of women’s superpipe. Burke was also instrumental in the IOC’s decision to include the event in the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games.

Since the announcement of Burke’s death in a Utah hospital nine days after her fall, supporters have come through to donate more than $287,000 to cover her medical bills and other costs associated with a memorial.