McCann Comes From Behind to Defend His X Games Big Air Title
Back-to-Back Gold for Australia’s Steve McCann
Steve McCann pulled off a repeat performance in the X Games BMX Big Air to come from behind and snag his second gold Sunday night. The Melbourne, Australia native sat in second behind Zack Warden only to pull off a Double Front Flip followed by a Double Whip on his last run and scoring 92.33.
“I don’t want to say I enjoy waiting till the last minute but it definitely makes for a good show,” said a beaming McCann. “It’s huge, you come to X Games and you lay it all on the line every time and you put in all the best and here I am having a lot of fun.”
Zack Warden was edged out of first place to earn silver in the competition with his score of 92.00. The St. Louis, Mo. Native picked up his first X Games medal with a close to stellar performance, a stark contrast from his seventh place finish last year.
X Games BMX veteran Kevin Robinson came out firing in the first run of the night, notching a score of 91.00 after sticking a No-handed Back Flip to a No-handed Flair that reached a height of 17-feet-2 inches.
“I feel very good, I’ve been battling shoulder injury for almost 2 years, I originally hurt my shoulder in Brazil and had 3 dislocations and then got in a car accident two years later,” said Robinson. “I originally hoped to beat two people so to come back and medal feels very very good.”
The BMX Big Air competition features dropping in from either a 60-foot or 80-foot high perch which launches them from either a 50-foot or 65-foot gap and continuing to a 27-foot quarterpipe. Each rider has four runs and are judged on a combination score of which trick they complete over the gap and any trick they do off the quarterpipe before they land. The competition is not timed and is judged on style, creativity and amplitude.
For X Games media information, including press releases, logos and additional images from past events, log on to www.espneventmedia.com. To view medalist runs, visit the Winter X Games You Tube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/xgames and follow the X Games on Twitter at Twitter.com/xgames
X GAMES LOS ANGELES 2012
X Games Los Angeles 2012 will return to Los Angeles, Calif., June 28 – July 1, 2012, with live coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. This year will mark the 10th consecutive year the event will be held in Los Angeles and will feature more than 200 of the world’s best athletes in the sports of BMX Freestyle, Rally Car, Moto X and Skateboard.
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Contacts: Danny Chi, ESPN, 310-642-1509, danny.c.chi@espn.com
Katie Moses-Swope, ESPN, 303-290-7888, katie.moses-swope@espn.com
Grace Coryell, ESPN, 310-642-1519, grace.s.coryell@espn.com