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Beer, Balls, Berlin
BMX Vert Finals
By Mike Vincent
It was a beautiful day in Berlin…I mean it was great for a couple of hours. Today at the LG Action Sports World Tour, rain and wind were threatening all day. Luckily, BMX Vert went down in between showers.
Since BMX Vert Prelims were cancelled yesterday due to poor weather, we had 15 riders in the finals. The ramp was dried off and Berlin witnessed some radical vertical action.
Here’s what happened…
10th place-- Mike Mancuso-- Mike had a couple crashes in his first run, but he threw down the big tricks in his second run. Mike likes to gamble and it was obvious with tricks like no handed flairs and tailwhip flairs.
9th place-- Benni Kopp-- Benni kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Each run was packed with some back-to-back style and the big tricks. 540s, tailwhips, double barspins, inverts, and lookbacks.
8th place-- Tom Stober-- Tom is a regular at the LG Action Sports World Tour. Unfortunately, Tom has had to deal with some injuries this year. Fresh off an injury, Tom fired out a bag of tricks. Flairs, tailwhips, no handers, supermans, and lookbacks.
7th place-- Jason Branham-- Jason is a young gun but I have a feeling you’ll see him at more LG Action Sports events. Jason goes really high and showed Berlin some big tricks. Flairs, 540s, no handers, and all the tricks to put him in the finals.
6th place-- Matt Fairbairn-- Matt likes to sneak in some big tricks during his runs. You never know when to expect them, but you’ll see alley-oop 540s, double barspins, suicide no handers, and x-up to barspin to x-up.
5th place-- Koji Kraft-- When Koji wasn’t dancing on the deck, he showed Berlin some BMX vert skills. Koji goes high, and usually jams about four trick variations in each air. Actually, he does so many tricks in each air, I don’t have enough time to mention all his tricks. Sorry, but this kid is good.
4th place-- Jay Eggleston-- If the Berlin wall were still up today, I think the West Berliners would have seen Jay airing in the sky. He goes high - high flying, big tricks, and back-to-back. Turndown 540s, tailwhips, no handers, and all the tricks to land in the top five.
3rd place-- Tom Haugen-- Tom has been riding BMX for a couple decades. First flatland, then dirt, then park/street, and now he’s starting to dominate the vert contests. Back-to-back tricks in every run with some big ones thrown in. Double tailwhips, tailwhips, supermans, and a plethora of tricks up his sleeve.
2nd place-- Zach Shaw-- Zach has been around the vert scene for a long time and today he showed Berlin that he’s still flying high. Zach has all the big tricks with some style. X-up flair, 540s, turndown to x-up, and the most stylish inverts.
1st place-- Simon Tabron-- Simon called me on his LG Chocolate to say that he had a great time in Berlin. I’m pretty sure that everyone in Berlin was more than happy that Simon was here. Berlin got to witness a huge 900, no handed alley-oop 540s, turndown 540s, flairs, and all the tricks to put in on the top of the podium. Congrats.
That wraps up BMX Vert Finals in Berlin. Everyone had a great time since Berlin is one of the greatest cities in the world. Thanks.
