IN
THE
WIND
P34
X GAMES INVADES MINNEAPOLIS
R
emember back in 2006
when Travis Pastrana did the
first-ever double backflip and it
completely rocked the extreme
sports world? What a differ-
ence a decade makes. Fast-
forward to 2017, and to dominate
the Moto X Freestyle event at
Summer X Games, it not only
requires a double-backflip, but
three in a single run with varia-
tions like no feet and no hands.
Levi Sherwood pulled off just
that in earning the gold medal
in the Pacifico Moto X Freestyle
competition at the X Games
Minneapolis, beating out Josh
Sheehan and Clinton Moore,
who collected silver and bronze,
respectively.
The LifeProof Moto X Step
Up was next up, taking place on
Saturday. Much like the Free-
style events, the bar continues
to be raised in Step Up—liter-
ally. Riders sent it skyward in an
attempt at gold, and the event
ended in a showdown between
Jarryd McNeil and Bryce
Hudson. The duo dispatched
the rest of the competition at a
height of 43 feet, as they were
the only two capable of clearing
the staggering height. The bar
was then elevated to 44 feet,
which proved to be the tiebreak-
er. Hudson nicked the bar with
his back tire on two attempts,
but it was McNeil who was able
to bend his bike to his will, whip-
ping his rear tire over the pole
for the win. It marks McNeil's
second consecutive victory in
Moto X Step Up.
Fans were unable to watch
the event live due to the cover-
age from Wimbledon, but the full
replay of X Games Moto X Step
Up is available to watch online
at https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=oYhFUNEjgpg.
New Zealander Levi
Sherwood added to his X
Games medal collection
with two more golds, one
in Freestyle X and another
in Best Trick.
