T
en years ago, a scrawny
kid from New Zealand’s
North Island started making
waves on the freestyle
motocross scene with his ridiculous
extension and silky-smooth style. Levi
Sherwood was 15 years old at the time
and he’d just added the Backflip to his
arsenal. Since then, the laid-back kid
from Palmerston North rapidly became
an unstoppable force as he tore
through the competitions in Australia
– before sending shockwaves through
the industry when he won the 2009
Red Bull X-Fighters opening round in
Mexico as a wildcard entry.
Since that momentous, breakthrough
night, Sherwood’s constantly been
a crowd favourite and a serious
contender at every event he’s shown
up at. With a stack of X Games,
X-Fighters and now Nitro World Games
trophies piling up in his cabinet, a
decade at the top of the sport and a
no-bulls**t attitude, it’s easy to forget
that Levi’s just 25 years old. He’s got
plenty more in the tank, and combined
with a reignited passion for his riding
you can guarantee this mullet-laden
Kiwi is a long, long way from being
done with FMX.
Levi, for someone who’s only in their
mid-20s it feels like you’ve been
around for ages. When did things
start clicking for you?
When I was 12 I got invited to ride
the Crusty Demons tours and it was
around that time where everything
clicked. There weren’t many
conventional tricks I didn’t know how
to do. I must’ve been 15 when I first
flipped and I kind of went from there.
How would you describe your riding
style?
Lazy! And smooth I guess. But yeah,
definitely lazy. If you watch anyone ride
and they try and force a trick, it looks
shit. Being lazy creates a more fluid,
effortless style, and I’ve found the
secret is to let the trick extend itself
and not try and push it. Growing up I
was always stoked on Nate Adams,
both on his worth ethic, squeaky-
clean image and his smooth style. I’ve
always like smooth riding rather than
big tricks.
With you starting your career so
young, was it tough to balance out
education with riding?
I actually did pretty good at school, but
I didn’t really care for it and left early.
Dad was always on my case about
education, but I turned up, did what I
Levi Sherwood
had to do, and never fell behind. But
the end goal for me was always riding.
I’d just go to school and do the work
so I could go and ride.
Then before you knew it you’d
progressed through Australia
and won the very first Red Bull
X-Fighters contest that you entered.
Yeah, it was crazy. I got invited to a
Red Bull training camp in the US two
weeks beforehand, and I think Twitch
pulled out of the Mexico X-Fighters, so
they had a spot open up; at the end of
the camp they invited me as a wildcard
rider. I knew with my riding ability
I could potentially win, but I kinda
second-guessed myself. After talking
with dad we thought we might as well
give it a shot.
The day before the comp I knocked
myself out in practice and got a
concussion, but I still managed to
qualify fourth and knew then that I
was in with a good chance of winning.
I won the first two rounds and didn’t
realise that the third and final round
was two minutes long, and I just made
the last 30 seconds up as I went.
How long did it take for that win to
sink in?
It took a while. I remember waking
up the next morning and when you
travel so much you think “where am
I?”, then the next thought was “s**t, I
won X-Fighters last night!” I was only
17 at the time but I still get a buzz
when I talk about it. It was a pretty big
moment in my career.
Then three years later you became
the 2012 Red Bull X-Fighters World
Champion. Take us through that
year.
I had a different attitude that season.
I’d had my new property for a year
and just rode every day and was in
a relaxed mind-set, and felt at one
with my bike. I won the first round,
then Madrid, then I got knocked out
really bad at Jimmy Fitzpatrick’s soon
afterward and can’t remember being
in Madrid at all. I was still messed up
for the fourth round at Germany but
took it easy and lost a heap of points,
meaning I was tied with Tom Pages
going into the final round. That round,
I’ve never been in that headspace
before and probably never will be
again. I was just rock solid and nothing
could phase me. I won qualifying, then
progressed through the heats and won
the event and the championship. u
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