Jeremiah Smith walks away victorious from the BMX Street final: 2011 KIA X Games Asia
The 2011 KIA X Games (KXG) Asia action continued with the BMX Street final on Sunday, May 1, at the Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai, China. When the dust settled, it was America’s Jeremiah Smith who stood the highest on the podium. The rest of the podium was
rounded out by the Americans as well, with Brian Kachinsky walking away with the silver medal and Dakota Roche taking home the bronze.
The qualification round had already separated those at the top of their form from the ones struggling to find it. This indicated that the competition level in the final was high and an intense battle was expected. The Asian X Games is without any doubt the
greatest action sports platform in the region and the athletes were determined walk away with the highest honour. With an enthusiastic crowd and electrifying atmosphere, the determined riders put up a fight of their life to take away the coveted victory.
Even though the final’s field was full of the in-form riders, Smith remained the most impressive on his first ever KIA X Games street course. Riding a new purple bike instead of his black and green one, the American managed to clinch the win through his
consistency and spectacular tricks. He sealed the fate of the final with his 'Bar-manual double peg no-footed trick can' in his final run. The run remained unbeatable and carried him off to victory.
Kachinsky put up a good fight in the final for the gold but ended up falling short and had to settle for a silver medal instead. While talking to the media after the contest, the American complimented the Jiangwan Stadium’s street course, saying that this
was the best course that he had ever ridden. He said, “I love how the rails are so close to each, which works for me as I prefer to do rail trick combinations consecutively.”
The last remaining place on the podium was secured by an American as well. Roche was delighted with the result, saying, “I'm so stoked, this is my first X games medal- never thought I'd get one.”
Unable to really impress the judges in his earlier runs, he managed to come back strongly in his final run and earning enough points to get to third place.
According to him, it was his ability to perform under pressure that made the difference and allowed him to get his hands on the bronze. “It all came together on my last run. The pressure was certainly on, and my combination of an amalgamation of 540's, a
Truck Driver, Toothpicks and 180's certainly must have helped.”
The BMX Street final turned out to be fantastic with an intense battle and exciting riding. With the conclusion of the contest, the last BMX contest that remains at this years’ KXG is the BMX Mini Mega finals, which is scheduled to take place on Monday,
May 2.
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