Travis Pastrana took back his Moto X Freestyle gold medal, simple as that. He needed just one run in the final Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, and, for once, didn't crash and injure himself trying to break out a new trick.
Pastrana's gold was his fifth in six X Games Freestyle finals—his only loss came in 2004, when he crash-landed a 360 and Nate Adams won his first X Games gold. This time, Pastrana rolled out a spirited, flip-filled run that did not include the trey. But he didn't need it. His biggest trick was a backflip saran wrap and he was the only rider to hit The Wall, a quarterpipe-like obstacle. But the strongest part of his routines was his enthusiastic play to the crowd. They loved it, and so did the judges. He beat close friend Kenny Bartram by eight tenths of a point and defending champion Nate Adams by two points.
Travis Pastrana may actually be superman with the way he keeps taking golds. With an Indian air.
"I was surprised I didn't need the 360," Pastrana said. "I was not looking forward to doing that in the final run. I didn't want to use it because I've been so inconsistent with that trick."
It's hard to bet against a rider with as much hardware as Pastrana, but leading into the event it seemed that Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg had the chops to win a bookend to the gold he won Thursday in Best Trick. Stenberg has finished second in six major contests leading up to X Games, so momentum was in his court.
Adding to Stenberg's hope were misfortunes by Pastrana (severe dehydration) and Adams (he broke his right big toe in the prelims). But the Cinderella story didn't pan out. In the prelims, Twitch set a Guiness World Record for backflip distance when he pulled the trick off the 100-foot gap. But he still finished second, which suggested that the judges were going to favor Pastrana's brand of showmanship.
During the afternoon prelims, the 10-rider field was whittled to just five riders, and each would get two runs in the final. Nate Adams, Adam Jones and Kenny Bartram would round out the field for the finals.
In the final, Stenberg posted two solid runs, but it wasn't enough. He didn't even medal. He finished fourth, two tenths of a point from bronze. Twitch's second run included a lot of flip tricks, including a 100-footer and a backflip can-can that he landed side-saddle. "He probably has more skill than any other dude out here," said fellow Metal Mulisha rider Brian Deegan. "He's put in the effort, the time. He's responsible now and practicing and making this look easy."
I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. I believe there's a pit o' foam beneath me. Rock solid.
Stenberg wasn't the only rider trying to figure out how to beat Pastrana. Kenny Bartram landed a 360 and a side-saddle backflip. "Going into the first run, I wasn't confident at all," Bartram said. "I had no intentions of medaling. I thought it was going to be Nate, Twitch and Travis. But when I stuck my run, I thought it was worthy of the gold." Before the contest, Bartram didn't think he would throw his new side saddle backflip because the lip on the kicker popped him too high. He changed his mind when he saw a chance to win the gold.
Adams, who pulled off a clean 360 on both runs, couldn't figure out where he went wrong. "Every time my scores came in this weekend, here and at Best Trick, I thought, 'What more do I need to do?' I need to look at a tape. Maybe I am a little off. Everyone always thinks they should have done better and I don't want to be that guy who always complains about getting screwed."
In the end, it would be hard to say that any of the top three riders got less than they deserved. It would be just as accurate to say that the performance of any of the three was gold-medal worthy. Bottom line, the judges favored Pastrana's flash and flair. It's hard to argue with that.
Adam Jones rode circles around his driveway when he was little. Actually, Adam Jones hucked dead bodies around his driveway when he was little.
Notes and Quotes
Four hours separated the end of prelims from the beginning of finals. Immediately after prelims, Pastrana came back to his motor coach and locked the door. He was complaining of dehydration and was having trouble keeping food and fluids down. The rest must have done him well.
Despite not getting the fair shake he felt he deserved, Bartram was pleased to hear from people who congratulated him on his new trick, the side-saddled backflip. "Medals are cool and the difference between fourth and second is $30,000, but it's more fulfilling to me to know that I landed a trick everyone appreciates," Bartram said. "It's a better feeling than having a medal on the shelf."
Nate Adams jammed his foot into the ground on the first jump of his prelim run and he broke his right big toe. Early on, it looked as if the defending champ may not be in the final. "I was so nervous after that first run," he said. "I got crooked and it threw the leg of the peg. My foot hit the ground and slapped the right big toe into the dirt." When Nate took his boot off after the prelim, his foot was shaking and his toe turned black and blue.
Pastrana didn't crash during the competition. He's scored at least one wreck every year since his aborted backflip in 2001. This year, when he backflipped off his bike after his first run, he ran down the sidelines to celebrate with the crowd. That's another thing that we haven't seen Travis do in a while. "Can you believe it?" he said. "Usually at the X Games I go out and do something I need to do to win. This year I've been hurt a lot and didn't have time to practice anything new. I practiced my stuff, but not one new, big, scary trick. It was the best X Games ever. The saran wrap flip scares me to death because I've only done it maybe 10 times. The injuries I've been going through were a blessing because this year I was a better overall rider."
The top five scores were so close, there was a lot of questions in the press conference about the fairness of the judging. "At any judged event, I don't think there is going to be a clear winner," Pastrana said. "I think the judges did a great job, but I think Bartram should have done a little better with the new trick. The judges are in a tough position. How can you judge style and creativity? We're all different with different styles and it's up to their personal opinions. I've been a judge a couple of times and I hate it. I think they do the best they can."
"As soon as I leave the press conference, I'm going to find the judges and ask them. I'm not mad. I just want to know why they thought his run was better than mine."—Kenny Bartram
Twitch was bombarded with camera crews and journalists after the prelims, where he finished second. A lot of media folks pegged Twitch for their story angles and were looking for the upset-over-Pastrana victory to come from the Metal Mulisha camp. "It's definitely way gnarlier getting a medal than not getting a medal," Twitch said. "Everyone wants your autograph, there is a lot more press to deal with, but I don't mind as long as I get medals."
Mulisha leader Brian Deegan is happy to see his troops stepping out and grabbing their own headlines and their own identities. "It's cool you noticed," Deegan said. "I can very easily be the man and take care of everything, but that's not my style. We've got the whole setup and it's not just for me, it's for everyone. When we win, I want to win together. When they win, I want to feel as if I won, too. None of us here are out for ourselves. We're a team and when you're a team, you're 10 times stronger than everybody else."
