The UK native won his ninth straight X Games gold medal on the BMX vert Thursday night in front of 12,000 people aside the State Capital in Austin. He did so pulling off a front flip flair, alley-oop tailwhip turndown, flair tailwhip and a 540 one-foot seatgrab combo, scoring a 92.66 on his first of two runs.
“I can’t think of a better way to start the X Games party than winning a gold medal tonight,” Bestwick said.
Now at 42-years-old, just like a fine wine, Bestwick seems to only be getting better with age.
“When I broke the record last year, that was stressful,” said Bestwick, who set the X Games mark for the most consecutive wins last year with his eighth victory in a row at X Games Barcelona. “I really wanted that record. Everything after that is just seeing how long it can hold up.”
Bestwick won his first X Games medal in 1996 and now has 13 career X Games golds.
Thursday X Games Austin Results
Skateboard Vert Final
1. Jimmy Wilkins, 87.00 (USA)
2. Sandro Dias, 85.66 (BRA)
3. Mitchie Brusco, 84.00 (USA)
4. Andy Macdonald, 83.66 (USA)
5. Pierre-Luc Gagnon, 82.00 (CAN)
6. Bucky Lasek, 21.33 (USA)
BMX Vert Final
1. Jamie Bestwick, 92.66 (GBR)
2. Simon Tabron, 89.66 (GBR)
3. Dennis McCoy, 88.33 (USA)
4. Steve McCann, 87.00 (AUS)
5. Coco Zurita, 86.33 (CHI)
6. Mykel Larrin, 86.00 (USA)
7. Chad Kagy, 85.66 (USA)
8. Vince Byron, 85.00 (AUS)
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
