X Games Brawn and Bronze For Oakley’s BMX Team
Sure, a Bronze may have been the best Medal finish at X Games 16 for O’s BMX squad. But there was plenty of brawn to captivate X crowds all around.
The highlight of the weekend came with Oakley Australia’s young and competitive ripper Andy Buckworth. The X Games rookie charged hard, throwing down a double front flip (a trick debuted just last year), enough to take down big name Anthony Napolitan – the first ever to land the double front flip – for the Bronze medal.
The youngster dazzled the crowd with his aerial display – and he definitely earned some respect from the worldwide audience. But he, like all of the other riders, were unable to catch contest leader Chad Kagy, who busted out a backflip tail whip over the 70-foot gap and a perfectly executed flip whip on the quarter-pipe for a 91.66 initial score. Kagy ended up with the Gold from a contest that saw some gnarly crashes go down live on TV.
Speaking of crashes, Oakley’s Chase Hawk, also a newcomer to the X Games, killed it in qualifying to make his first ever BMX Park Final. Chase, who isn’t considered a ‘contest rider,’ turned heads every time he took to the course. His speed and style definitely stood out going into the Finals, where he held a third place position.
“That kid is killing it,” said a fellow rider, amongst other BMX insiders in the athlete staging area.
Unfortunately for Chase, his speed took over during one of his runs and he slammed right into a wall on the course, injuring himself. He limped back to the staging area with medical staff tending to his tweaked legs. The crowd, appreciative of his awesome runs, cheered him on as he exited the course.
Another Oakley BMX Ripper, North Carolina native Josh Harrington, also broke his way into Finals. The BMX Street competition was an impressive display of rail riding and usage of the course’s tea cup feature. Unfortunately, Josh was knocked out of the first heat in the Finals, accidentally sailing right over the back of the tea cup as the audience gasped. Fortunately, he’s perfectly fine – and he closed out a killer X Games run in style.
Keeping with the ‘style’ topic, just about every other BMX rider in the athlete staging area was rocking Oakley Frogskins and Holbrooks…even if they weren’t sponsored by the O. Which means, Oakley, as always, is dominating the BMX world. (Not to mention, some ESPN broadcasters proudly rocked Holbrooks as well).
Keep an eye out for Oakley’s rising Team Riders as they rock video screens everywhere in entertaining BMX videos.
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