Once upon a time, snowboarders weren’t welcome on some mountains, the BMX was considered a children sport, roller-in-line was reserved to tourists, motocross to countrymen and skiing to older people, and skateboarders were chased by policemen… Wait, that’s still true. But you know what I mean.
Those sports that used to be marginal back in the days, looked down upon by the masses, ignored by the traditional media, have today become the norm within most households. In a way, we’re collectively responsible for the transformation all the sport gear shops had to go through; but it all happened so fast! What happened?
The creation of the first X-Games in 1994 is without a doubt related with the increasing popularity of these sports. Because they were widely featured on television, a lot of people have been able to discover those disciplines and their athletes for the first time, and a whole young generation immediately joined in. Here’s a Top 5 of the most epic moments of the X Games that shaped the evolution of those sports.
5 - Dave Mirra’s BMX « Double Backflip » - Summer X Games #6 (2000)
Crowning a five-year-long total domination of the park, this double backflip earned Dave Mirra his 9th gold medal at the X Games. Dave Mirra still remains to this day the most decorated athlete in X Games history, with 21 medals, 14 of them gold.
4 – Matt Hoffman’s 900 "no hands"- X-Games 8 (2002)
Unfortunately, even this never-seen-before maneuver didn’t win Matt Hoffman enough points to beat Dave Mirra in the finals, which got him the silver medal. That was Matt Hoffman’s last participation to the X Games. What a pity.
3 - Chuck Carothers’s motocross "body varial" - X Games 10 (2004)
Nicknamed Chuck N' Roll or Holy Chuck by his fans, the denomination “Carolla” stayed for this maneuver which remains to this day one of the most dangerous, all sports together. Chuck Carothers went back home with a gold medal and $50 000 more in his pockets, plus the title of “Athlete of the Games”. That being said, if we give credit to the current trend, someone should make a “backflip carolla” very soon… Chuck Carothers is also the first (and only) to have ever performed a backflip on a Harley Davidson motorcycle… and to have lived to tell!
2 – Tony Hawk’s 900 - X Games 5 (1999)
It’s after no less than 11 attempts that legendary skater Tony Hawk finally succeeded the first ever 900 degrees rotation on a ramp. More than a decade later, Tony Hawk is still extremely rich and famous thanks to this trick, which marked the X Games history forever.
1 - Travis Pastrana – his complete works!
In addition to winning 3 gold medals in Freestyle Moto X, Moto X Best Trick and Rally at the 12th X Games in 2006, Travis Pastrana succeeded in marking all the viewers’ minds by making the impossible real, which is to say, a double backflip on a motocross!
Travis Pastrana is the ultimate extreme athlete. He’s talented, and not afraid of anything. To him, making backflips is as natural as brushing his teeth. And he’d do them with anything, from tricycle to monster truck! And in his spare time, he sometimes gets entertained by jumping out of a plane with no parachute or “gardening” in his backyard… It’s only natural that MTV approached Travis to give him his own TV show, called Nitro Circus, which follows him and his reckless crew through all their stunts and crazy ideas!
