Mike Mason claims gold medal in Moto X Speed and Style at X Games L.A. 2012
America’s Mike Mason finally managed to claim X Games Moto X Speed and Style gold medal after getting the better of fellow countryperson and defending champion Nate Adams in the Final that went down at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 30.
The battle for the top spot on the podium turned out to be a repeat of last year’s final, with the same two riders facing-off at what is considered to be the biggest stage of action sports. The crowd expected nothing but the most exciting performance from
the two riders as they got ready to square off for top honours in front of a huge crowd.
Adams is considered as one of the most dominating athletes in Moto X, sitting in the same league as the legendary Travis Pastrana in terms of success at X Games. However, he had sustained a shoulder injury last year, which had kept him out of action for
a good number of months. However, he had looked in an exceptional form during the quarter-finals and semi-finals, finishing in first place in both to advance into the finals.
After coming up just short in his last few appearances at X Games, Mason was determined to go all the way this year.
As the final got underway, Mason grabbed the hole-shot and continued to build his lead throughout the course of the four laps, executing exquisite tricks in the process. Adams, however, managed to outdo his rival in style, pulling off manoeuvres that allowed
him to move ahead of his rival on the scoreboard.
In the final lap, however, the 30-year-old Mason executed a huge Holy Grab whereas Adams failed to successfully execute a no-handed back-flip. The final jump took its toll on the defending champion’s opportunity to take the win.
Mason finished with a final score of 92.80, which included a 90.00 score for style and a 2.80 score for speed. Adams, on the other hand, scored a 91.33 for style, but finished the race behind his rival. As a result, he was forced to concede gold medal to
Mason while settling for a silver medal.
"It was perfect," Mason said. "I wanted to go up against Nate again and try and win it. You want to have the hardest guy in there."
Spain’s Edgar Torronteras crashed in the semi-finals, therefore allowing America’s Ronnie Faisst to walk away with an uncontested bronze medal, his third in a row.
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