and knocked him to the ground for an anxious few moments. Friends, family, and spectators could not have been more excited to see Roche resume his place in the line-up and continue to showcase progressive tricks with signature laid-back style.
"It is amazing to be able to ride and compete with the best and have all my family and friends watching," says Roche. "I grew up in Huntington Beach, so this has a good hometown feeling. Coming back from that crash and placing was huge for me. I couldn't be more stoked."
Chase Hawk competed in a handful of highly competitive heats before qualifying for BMX Freestyle Park finals, but Hawk made himself a strong contender early on with huge transfers and a stylish bag of tricks that he used to tackle each element of the diverse course.
Intense afternoon sun introduced itself as a factor during round one elimination on Saturday, and competitors began trading off 'easy' runs with the real ones in order to conserve energy. At the end of the day, it was riders Dhers, Enarson, and Cranmer that won the medals, with Hawk coming in at 4th.
"I'm so excited for Dakota and Chase. They put everything they had into riding this week and they absolutely killed it. They really made the Cult Crew proud." says Robbie Morales, founder of Cult.
Cult riders Dakota Roche and Chase Hawk arrived at X Games 17 ready to ride. Roche and Hawk competed in the BMX Freestyle Street and BMX Freestyle Park disciplines, taking home the rights to third and fourth place, respectively. Dakota Roche's riding earned him his second X Games medal, having taken home the first earlier this year at X Games Asia. During his first run in the final heat, Roche had a hard fall that led him to land chest-first on the corner of a concrete ledge 
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.