Following the tragic death of Caleb Moore at the X Games in Aspen earlier this year, both the Moto X Best Trick and Snowmobile Best Trick events at future competitions are being discontinued, according to a release by ESPN.

The company announced the decision on Tuesday and said that it was not directly tied to an investigation into the death of Snowmobile Best Trick competitor Caleb Moore in January, according to an ESPN spokesman. Although the company said the decision was not related to the incident, it is fairly obvious that the two correlate.

Moore died after suffering serious heart and head injuries at the X Games in Aspen in January while competing in the Snowmobile Freestyle event. Moore was attempting to pull off a backflip when he came up short on the track and was crushed by his vehicle as it rolled over. Moore was down on the slope for some time before being taken to the hospital for further treatment, after which he passed away.

"Moto X Best Trick and Snowmobile Best Trick were not dropped in response to what happened in Aspen," an ESPN spokesman said. "This decision was under consideration before Aspen, and, in fact, our review of Snowmobile Freestyle continues."

Over the years competitors have used the Best Trick events to try out new variations on tricks and stunts and push things forward when it comes to flips, including in 2006 when Travis Pastrana pulled the first double backflip in competition.

"This change reflects our decision to focus on motor sports disciplines which feature athletes who also compete in multiple, world-class competitions [e.g., professional events and tours] reflecting the highest degree of athlete participation, competitive development and the global nature of our X Games franchise. Over the past 18 years we have made more than 60 changes to our competition lineups at X Games events to capture the evolution of the sport and these continue that growth," ESPN said in a released statement.

Many athletes and competitors have been injured over the years, but Moore marked the first time that someone has died as a result of their injuries at the X Games. Another scary injury happened in 2001 when Carey Hart was attempting a backflip and crashed, breaking numerous bones.

After the death of Moore ESPN had to make a move ahead of X Games Tignes in France, which starts next week. There was a freestyle event scheduled for the snowmobile for the games in France, but that was previously cancelled a few weeks ago.