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Mirra makes up for a poor showing in
park and wins gold with back to back incredible runs. The story,
as it was presented live, is below.
This is it, the culmination of what is going on at Summer
X 2001. The finals for vert. Every other event has already
happened and I am sitting in the press box overlooking the eleven foot
tall vert ramp as the finals are about to get underway not even in doubt
about who is going to win. It WILL be Mirra if he is as on as he was
yesterday. Bottom line people, the only rider that could beat him is
Bestwick, and Jamie is out with a bummed ankle. Miron and Hoffman
have to look good for 2nd and 3rd place, but the top spot has already been
decided... unless things go wrong.
3:30PM - EST - August 22, 2001
I am ready for things to go here - they will probably dim
the lights inside the arena and start playing 'Hells Bells' by AC-DC in
just a few minutes and the crowd will go nuts. It's like the intro
to a pro wrestling match or something. Kind of lame, but it gets the
crowd going. Hopefully ESPN will move things along a lot quicker
than they did last nite. But they have the event scheduled to run
from 3:30PM to 5:00PM - That's an hour and a half of time for 30 minutes
of riding. How does ESPN do it? I don't have a clue.
Because right now, the riders aren't allowed to ride, the audience is
already getting bored, and I for one don't know why. Let's pick up
the pace people! The one thing I heard is that Eduardo
Tearas won't be up in the final due to an injury that he sustained
yesterday. He will be sitting in the number ten spot and that bumps
everyone up one spot (yay Koji). It also means there will only be
nine riders up, not ten. First rider up, Koji Kraft!
HERE WE GO... They just went through his long sponsor list. He
drops in and goes straight to a one footed one footer combo. He is
going back to back with his tricks as he goes. A bg no hander and a
signeture tailwhip, another tailwhip to turndown, to decade air, to 540 -
BAIL! It wasn't harsh so he is back up on the ramp with 20 seconds
left. Back in, he pumps the ramp and tries to finish up with a BIG
flair. It should be added that Koji's first run was
back-to-back-to-back tricks. Some big one hander and x-up
combos. A definite step up for him from qualifiers. Koji
scores a 85.60 Next rider is being hyped - Jay
Eggleston. He is pumping to setup and thorws a big invert, tthen a
no-hander. Can-can... X-up another x-up a HUGE 540. Very
nice! can can-x-up. now he is working the lip of the ramp with some
50-50 grinds and tries a tailwhip at the end and takes a not so harsh
slam. This run was NOT as good as Koji's run, but he still scores a
full point higher - whatever. (86.60) DMC is dropping in
right now wearing all black for K2, Vans... blah-blah-blah. He sets
up with a few airs and throws down a big can-can. A big candy bar
and a bar spin to barspin. A 540 X-up to another 540 alley-op.
A manual across the deck to 50-50 grind. No a HUGE flair pulled
perfect. He takes a break and drops back in. A few setup airs
to a 540 barspin which I haven't seen in a while at the buzzer.
Great run for Dennis. The score comes in and he gets a well deserved
90.60. Jason Davies, riding for Mongoose, is about to
go. He sets up with a couple of airs then throws a nice invert -
then one -footer to barspin. No-hander and then candybar. One
handed-one footer, alley oop turndown no footer then rocket.
Barspin no-hander to a big 540 strraight to a tailwhip. A 50-50
grind a couple of times then a few steup airs. An x-up and a big
corkscrew. An 89.40 puts him in the number two spot ahead of Jay and
Koji. The originator of the corkscrew flair is getting
ready to go - Kevin Robinson... Riding to Eye of the Tiger... nice
(Philly song). Kevin drops in and takes one setup air to a big no-hander
a big alley-oop and a one -handed can-can to a big 540. A few setup
airs again and he throws a switch handed 540 way out. Once again he
sets up and throws out the corkscrew. A couple airs later he tries a
no-handed corkscrew and bites it hard. But he isn't hurt at
all. Good. That fall left him tangled in the frame - like leg
breakage style. Glad he's not hurt. Kevin scores a 90.00 and
that pushes him up to 2nd. I'm falling a little behind on
these tricks so there are a few I'm missing - and there are some setup
airs between that I haven't mentioned (who cares?). They just spoke
to Kevin and he said that the ramp pretty much sucks. Nice.
But, he is still happy to be here and having a good time. Suck
up? Probably not. Simon is about to go... He
drops and takes two setups to go for some big inverts. No hader to
barspin. Candybar, can can lokback, one-handed one footer.
Then a big no-handed 540 after a couple of setup airs. A HUGE alley-oop
540 across 1/3 of the ramp. He takes a short break and drops back
in. A few setups and he throws a NEAR perfect 900. He actually
over rotates and goes down. No luck in his first run on that
one. Despite the fall - a 90.80 uts him into first place despite a
good portion of his run being setup airs. Still a good run
though. They take a minute to talk to Simon and he mentions that he
is a little stoked to be out here, and just psyched to be able to do it at
all. The Condor, Matt Hoffman is up next ready to go at the
vert ramp brakeless. He is nearly going high enough to hit the stop
motion 90 degree cam hanging over the ramp. That would be cool to
see, but not very likely. Matt takes one setup before throwing a big
no-hander then a peg grab on the other side. No footed peg grab, big
can-can lookback. A barspin to no-footer. A no-footed
can-can. a Nice inverted 540 to a few lip tricks. Smith,
50-50....Now he is setting up and hits a big flair with a slight dab on
the ride out. That was likely enough to put him into first
place. 91.80 - Yep, that's first place for Matt. Two
riders left in this round... The Canadian Beast, Jay Miron is up
first - then Mirra will be going. Jay doesn't waste much time before
getting into his first trick set. He takes his own bike (Macneil)
and starts off with a PERFECT 540 whip. Another 540 and then a 50-50
grind. A big lookback and then a high tailwhip. He gets a
little squirrelly and goes down on the landing of the whip. Not bad,
so he is now back up and getting ready to go. A couple of setup airs
and he throws out another huge 540 straight to a tailwhip. He
finishes it up at the buzzer with a decade air at coping level. That
may put him up to first... His score is a 91.40 which is just out of
first place. Jay takes a brief moment to throw up along the
sidelines - nerves or the fall getting to him. Hope he feels better
for his second run. Dave is about to drop in and the crowd
goes nuts when his name is announced. He is definitely a superstar
and he deserves it. The miracle man drops and goes big fast.
An incredible 540 then a no-hander. A lookback super man. Then
another 540. A one hander opposite direction. A barspin then a
no-hander out. A HUGE corkscrew and a big no-footed can-can. A
50-50 grind to alley oop 50-50. He works the lip a few more times
and comes out of the ramp to finish up his run. Not the most perfect
run that I have seen from him, but a solid first run. The 540 he did
was about ten feet out and the corscrew was about 6 feet out. A
93.00 puts him up in first place. Questionable. If
you look at the results on the right side of the screen RIGHT NOW - you
will be able to see what the current first round standings are and what
the riders scores are. Koji is back in on round two and
throw s a huge doupble barspin - barspin to barspin back. No footed
can. A candybar then throws his hand off and brings his foot around
the bars with his hand off - that was new for him. HE's taking a
quick breather... 25 seconds left. He drops and sets up with a
coupl eo f airs. A taiwhip to x-up. Then a flair on the far
side and lands sideways on his leg ON THE COPING... Seemed to hurt a
little, but he is okay I think. A 85.80 averages out to 85.70 and
leaves him in 9th for the finals. Not sure if he didn't do a little
better than that... Jay Egglston is up next and after his
first run left him in 8th he may be looking to step things up. Most
riders are going all out in every run so he may not be able to bump it up
above 8th this year. Here comes Jay... A few setup airs then a big
invert to a turn down, then a can-can to a superman. Now a lokback.
A rocket air one -hander then a big 540. He does them so
straight. An alley-oop 50-50 grind. Now a few more setup
airs. A rocket x-up. He finishes up with another tailwhip and
goes down sideways. That's a hard thing to try to throw at the end
of 90 seconds of straight riding. Crazy tired. He gets an
85.40 and finishes with an 86.00 - Staying in 8th. Dennis
is getting ready for his second run after an incredible first run.
He must be psyched and ready to put it all out on the edge. DMC
drops in and takes a couple of setup airs. A nice invert way out
then a carving barspin then a candybar. He does a big lokback
540. A few more setups and he throws another perfect flair. A
barspin tailtap flyout. He is ON!!! Dennis takes a short break
and drops back in. He sets up and throws the turndown flair to a
HARSH bail. He is down.... It takes him about a minute but he
is back up, limping slightly. His effort is rewarded with a 89.60
which was not as nice but averages out to 90.10 and leaves him in 5th. Jason
Davies drops and takes a few setup airs. He throws a nice can can
and then a no footed set grab. A barspin then a no -hander. A
good 540 then a bottom side footplant. He goes for a grind and
misses the front peg. He goes down but is up again quickly. 20
seconds left... He sets up with a few airs and throws a nice
corkscrew then a barspin then a 540 then a tailwhip - and INCREDIBLE set
with a mild bail at the end. That was dope! 89.00 is what he
gets which puts him at a 89.20 and 7th place. At this point
nobody has had a score which has changed their position in the
rankings. I'm not cool with that. It's like they are doing the
exact same tricks or something. Not real cool. Definitely
somewhat off. Kevin is about to go and he drops in.
Not sure what corkscrew attempt he will be trying, but I'm sure it'll be
sick. Jamie Bestwick was just shown on the screen rooting Kevin
on. Kevin starts with a bg no-hadner then a swtich hander
no-footer. He does a nice can can. Then a HUGE 540. He
sets back up and throw s a pefect corkscrew and a 50-50 on he other
side. Now a PERFECT no-handed flair. Not even a
corkscrew on that one. Wow! Ten seconds left and he drops for
one more big trick. He sets up and thwos a tailwhip about 5 or 6
feet out perfectly then throws his bike down the ramp on the other side
and raises his hands in satisfaction. He's pumped. He gets a
91.60 and that puts him in a ties for fouth with a 90.80. The first
rider to change postion. He gets on the microphone and says that it
was the best tailwhip of his life and he's happy that Jamie is here to
cheer him on. Just a good mood. Simon on his kickass
(ha-ha) Mongoose is ready to drop in. He is in a tie for fourth, so
he has to step it up. He drops and takes one setup before a
x-up. A big invert. Barpin to one-hander. No -hader.
X-up. One-haded-onefooted alley-oop. A few setups then a 540
turndown. He throws a 900 alley oop and falls back on his
head. No luck. He still has some time so he gets up and works
up to the top of the ramp. He drops back in and he LANDS the alley
oop 900 sideways and just STOPS. He doesn't fall off the bike but
his feet hit the ground. Not a bail, but not a cleanly pulled
trick. Still incredibly hard and good to see. He finishes up
with a 90.20 and drops to 5th place with an 89.60. He gets on the
mike and says he had a good time, but is sorry for not pulling the 900
clean for Philly. Simon is offerred up the chance to pull
the 900 for the glory of it. No score for it, nothing but glory -
and Simon goes for it and pulls it PERFECT!!! Unreal. Simon
gets on the mike and says that "I had to leave this place with my
dignity intact". That 900 was so clean that it did a lot more
than that... respect. Three riders to go and we are there
are no surprises yet. Matt, Mirra, Miron. The announcer is
trying to work the crowd into a frenzy and get everybody up on their feet
to root on Matt Hoffman. The Condor drops in and busts
about 8 feet on his first air, then goes higher. He does a 9 foot
540 no-handed to no-footed (same 540!). He grabs the front pegs then
does a barspin to barspin back to NO-footer (same air!). Dude, Matt
is wrong. He has 20 seconds left and works his way up the ramp after
a bail on that last combo. He sets up and throws the PERFECT 900 in
his run. That was possibly enough to move him up... TIME
UP!!! "Holy smokes" he says... Judges score:
91.60, not good enough. He has a 91.70 overall. The crowd is
not happy and boos the judges... BOOOOOoooooooo!!!!! People
judging freestyle??? Whatever! They are on the mike with
Mat, and the rumor of a last contest is presented - MATT HOFFMAN IS
RETIRING!!! Jay Miron is getting ready for his last run and
he is sitting in the number three spot. He may not get up to beat
Mirra, but can still one-up Hoffman. He drops and does a one
footer right away. Onefooted one haneder. Another big 540
tailwhip. CRAZY HIGH! A kciked out tailwhip. His legs
were WAY off the bike. A 540 then a peg stall and then takes a
second to breathe. The crowd is going nuts and Jay drops in for a
setup . A bug 540 striaght to a DOUBLE TAILWHIP.
Perfection from the beast. Waiting on the judges score - 94.00 -
That puts him in 2nd with 92.70. Miron on the mike and says
"Not to bad for a has-been. Thanks everyone a Philadelphia for
having me. I'm having a good time. It was awesome to see the
900." Nothing has-been about Miron. Dave Mirra
is the last competitor of the 2001 X-Games and is sitting pretty to win
the gold. He waits patienty for the sign that he can drop then he
goes. A huge air to corkscrew to barspin to no-hander to 540 no-hdnerr.
A huge tailwhp. Barpsin no-hnader then a big no-footed
can-can... I can't keep up. A doublt barspin then an OPPOSITE
crokscrew. A high speed manual and some solid lip tricks. He
is going back up and does a no-footed can can TO a tailwhip (same
air). No, no, no - Mirra is not real. His run is over, and so
is this contest. The judges score him a 95.40 and the averge is
94.20. MIRRA WINS GOLD! 5:00PM - EST -
August 22, 2001 Final results and scores are up now. They
are about to award the medals and I am about to pack things up before they
do that. This concludes BMXTRIX coverage of this years X-Games
(except for photos which will go up tonite). Thanks for visiting. Barrio
Games - Chicago, IL next weekend! ~P~ - August
22, 2001 |