Nitro Circus: Nitro World Games
In Salt Lake City staat op zaterdag 16 juli de eerste editie van Nitro World Games op de planning. Nitro World Games brengen extreme sporten naar een heel nieuw niveau. De beste freestyle atleten in motorcross (FMX), BMX, skaten en nog veel meer extreme sportdisciplines, bundelen hun krachten samen voor een spectaculaire nieuw event.
Bekijk bovenstaande video om alvast in de stemming te komen voor dit spectaculaire event. Je kunt de verschillende wedstrijden natuurlijk LIVE gaan volgen via de website van Nitro Circus. Ook kun je voor meer informatie de website of Facebook checken. Hieronder zetten we alvast even wat highlights van het event voor je op een rijtje, in het Engels.
BMX Triple Hit
In BMX Triple Hit, Brian Fox, hailing from Florida, USA, earned the top score in the pre-qualifying round. Andy Buckworth and Brandon Loupos, both from Australia and with huge world firsts on their resumes (Superman double frontflip for Buckworth, Cash Roll tailwhip and Cash Roll double tailwhip for Loupos), took second and third. UK natives Alex Coleborn and Ryan Taylor, widely seen as two of the top park riders in the world, grabbed fourth and fifth place respectively, while Arizona, USA’s Kevin Peraza rounded out the final list of athletes advancing from pre-qualifiers. These six athletes will join a stellar list of riders already invited to the Triple Hit Final Qualifier event, taking place on July 15 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Three wildcard athletes were also just announced, and include Southern California’s vert master TJ Ellis, a competition favorite who famously hucks a huge frontflip tailwhip when the chips are down, the U.K.’s Ben Wallace, X Games medalist and holder of the Guinness World Record for highest backflip on a bike, as well as six-time X Games medalist, and one of the best park riders on the planet, Venezuela’s Daniel Dhers.
BMX Best Tricks
In BMX Best Tricks, Andy Buckworth and Brian Fox qualified in this event in addition to their spots on the BMX Triple Hit list, taking first and sixth place, respectively. Joining them, in a stunning development, is Nitro Circus Live all-around star Gavin Godfrey. Determined to push his skills and compete against the best in the world, Godfrey jumped at the chance to compete for a spot and astonishingly leaped into second place at the pre-qualifying event. Up-and-comers Dominic Kirkham and Alex Landeros then took third and fourth place. Brandon Schmidt is another athlete stepping up and making waves outside of his regular discipline. A snowboarder and contraptions specialist on the Nitro Circus Live tour, Schmidt shocked onlookers by placing in the top five. Three more athletes have also been added to Best Tricks as wildcard selections: Seven-time X Games medalist Vince Byron, the world’s first triple and quadruple backflipper Jed “The Warrior” Mildon, and Andrew “Mini” Ahumada, who recently battled against Ryan Williams in attempt to land the massive first BMX triple frontflip, will all compete in the July 15 Nitro World Games final qualifying event.
FMX
Just as FMX has gone global, the Nitro World Games FMX lineup includes athletes from across the planet. Javier Villegas, born in Santiago, Chile and the first non-European rider to win the FIM FMX World Championship, topped the leader board during pre-qualifiers. Villegas has toured worldwide, including with Nitro Circus on its current North American trek, but is now looking to step up to the next level in major competition. Christian Meyer, who came in second, is an up-and-comer from Spain (first place in the 2015 X Pilots FMX Tour; 2014 Spanish FMX Championship winner). Meyer also trains at a second home in Argentina. Alastair Sayer – an X Games medalist who started riding in the Kalahari Desert in his native Botswana before his sixth birthday and has raced on the South African circuit – claimed third. Australia’s Jarryd McNeil, took fourth. McNeil, with three X Games gold medals to his credit (including two golds this year) now wants to show the world the full extent of his skills. Center of Gravity winner Kyle Demelo from Canada and Metal Mulisha member Cal Vallone from the U.S. round out the qualifiers. These six will join a hand picked Top 10 list of riders, chosen by an independent panel of industry leaders and former athletes, in the next phase of the competition.
Joining the pre-selected invitees and pre-qualifiers as a wildcard selection is veteran rider Steve Mini (Australia). These 17 athletes will clash at Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 15 – the day before the Nitro World Games. Only the eight highest scoring riders will advance to the inaugural Nitro World Games event on July 16. A full list of FMX riders is below. Stay tuned for the announcement of competitors for FMX Best Trick.
