INTERVIEW
JOSH HILL
THE
ALCHEMY
OF BEING
THERE
A CONVERSATION WITH JOSH HILL ON ALL THINGS
X GAMES, RCH, AUSTRALIA, BROTHERHOOD AND
BEING THERE BECAUSE "I THINK I CAN WIN."
BY ERIC JOHNSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
"J
ustin was just on my rear
wheel the whole time,"
explained Josh Hill at the
conclusion of the 2013 Summer
X Games Moto X main event. Hill,
who had held steady in the lead
for 19 of the 20-lap race, was
frustrated for it was Justin Brayton
– that had also chased Hill during
their entire 12-lap qualifying race
– who was able to shadow the
gleaming gold number-75 RCH
Suzuki RM-Z450 the entire contest before tactically executing
a deft block pass on the last lap
thus snatching away what looked
to be Hill's gold medal. "I mean,
we did 32 laps one and two. He
got me on the one that counted.
I think he would have rode even
faster had I not been holding him
up the whole time."
Josh Hill and the X Games. Talk
about a love-hate relationship. In
the July of 2010, while trying to
sort out a backflip trick for the
Olympics of Action Sports, Hill
and his motorcycle lost their way
off a steel ramp stamped into the
dirt of Southern California, the
former Supercross main-event
winner ending up in an emergency room with brutal injuries that
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