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It was a battle between the English and the Americans on Friday night
going into the vert comp. British strongarm, Jamie Bestwick had qualified
in first place after the prelims, just as he had been consistently winning
all year long.
And if Bestwick wasn’t enough for the Queen’s guard, Simon
Tabron was standing in first place after a solid prelim round of 540 variations
and big airs.
No matter how hard he tried, Dennis McCoy, the kid who put BMX on the
map in the 80’s and 90’s, could not stick his 900s that day.
Still, he remained positive. "In every pro vert contest, you go in
there hoping you'll pull this and that, hoping you'll place well. Then
once the song starts and the first guy drops in you don't care -- you're
just happy to be a part of it all."
John Parker took home the crash award when his back wheel caught the
coping after a double peg grab. Chad Kagy did the run of his life, pulling
out double bar spins, flairs, a tail whip bar spin and a double tail whip
over the channel.
England took a tumble when Bestwick broke his 2003 winning streak going
down hard on a tail whip flair over the channel. His enormous smooth airs
and lofty carves brought him a sixth place finish.
Stepping up for Mother Country, Tabron stuck a 900 in his second run,
the first since he took his brake off earlier this year, but dropped back
into third place after the consistently impressive Kevin Robinson nailed
his second run, packed with flairs, no-handed flairs, 540 variations and
tail whips.
And the gold medal went to Miracle Man, Dave Mirra, who opened with a
huge 540, then pulled a tail whip 540, a double tail whip over the channel
and an opposite one footed X up flair over the channel.
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