@alvaro
dalfarr
a77
33 feet: Once again Bianconcini was
the first to start. He gassed it hard on
the jump and cleared the bar with ease
before landing with perfect precision.
Podmol then repeated his previous
run, knocking the bar down on the
first attempt and tapping it again on
the second attempt, but like before, it
stayed up. Hudson and Renner both
cleared the bar, but didn’t make it look
easy.
Step-up
@alvarodalfarra77
Step Up started the ball rolling at the
X Games this year. An open qualifier
event was held a month before X
Games in Las Vegas, where Massimo
Bianconcini, Alastair Sayer and
Tom Parsons all earned their rides.
The Step Up jump was built right in
front of the stunning Texas Capitol
in downtown Austin and after the
morning practice session the Games
started at 8pm sharp. Proceedings
kicked off in true American style to
the US national anthem and a military
parade that included two fighter
planes.
The competition started and the smiles
turned to frowns. Everyone went big
and managed to stay in until the 4th
round of bar raises.
28 feet: Hansen failed two attempts
and was the first one out of the
competition.
Real Moto:
Another new addition to the Summer
X Games this year was the Real Moto
discipline - which awards medals for the
best 90-second FMX video. Entering
for the inaugral year are Drake McElroy,
Jeremy Stenberg, Mike Mason, Ronnie
Renner and Wes Agee. By the time you
read this, the edits will have just dropped
- you can hit up our blog to catch up on
the action, watch the videos and see who
won the first ever Real Moto gold medal!
30 feet: Sayer exited, followed by Matt
Buyten.
31 feet: Parsons went out, leaving
four riders still in the competition:
Bianconcini, Podmol, Hudson and
Renner.
32 feet: Everyone passed and
the least precise but by far
the luckiest was Podmol, who
knocked over the bar on the first
attempt and rattled it on the next
attempt, causing it to shake but
somehow the bar stayed up.
34 feet: Bianconcini knocked the
bar down on his first attempt. On his
second attempt he went higher, but
just tickled the bar when he descended
and it fell to the ground. He was the
first to be eliminated at this height,
and it looked like Massimo would go
home with a 4th place finish. Podmol
prepared himself, but Libor failed on
both attempts and both bars ended
up on the ground. At this height even
Hudson’s technique didn’t seem
to work, and he crashed on both
attempts after knocking down the
bar, luckily without hurting himself.
Three out of four riders had been
eliminated from this round, and still
no one seemed to be clear about
how to decide the final rankings. The
first news to arrive was that all riders
would have to jump again to decide on
second, third and fourth place. Shortly
after though, the official announcement
came out and stated that if Renner
cleared the bar there would be three
second places. If he failed however,
the competition would be reopened
and all remaining riders would have
the chance to win the gold, but also
risk being knocked out of medal
contention. It all depended on Ronnie.
Renner knocked over the bar on the
first attempt. All the riders watched
with wide eyes, as they thought they
would have to jump again. Renner
then got into position ready to jump
again. He came out of the jump on
a completely different line to before,
and rode the jump like he was in a
Whip contest. He climbed high and
managed to clear the bar with tons
of style before stomping the landing.
So Ronnie won the gold, Bianconcini,
Podmol and Hudson tied for the
silver. The crowded podium seemed
a bit strange, but it was a victory for
everyone! u