the last five years, he didn’t qualify first in his heat. But when it came to the finals, there was no doubt Bestwick is still the reigning king of X Games BMX Vert. Included in his first run were tricks with lots of amplitude, including a big flair tailwhip, an ally oop tailwhip, and a massive no handed 540. He also brought out his downside tailwhip to turndown. His scores of 43 and 43 were the two highest of the event and bettered the rest of the field by a significant 14-point margin. Besides today’s gold being his incredible sixth-straight, it’s Bestwick’s tenth career gold and his twelfth overall. He’s now tied for the lead for the most X Games consecutive golds.
An extremely versatile rider, Byron was the only BMX athlete invited to compete in three events at this year’s X (Vert, Park, and Big Air). The young Australian was able to achieve an overall score of 72.00, just enough for silver and one-step up from his bronze last year.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.