Nobody doubted who would go for gold in the vert, and multiple X-Games champion Jamie Bestwick proved them right. In the Vert contest Jamie totally rocked the pipe and literally flew away into Cologne’s night sky. Fans of the miniramp were in for a big surprise. Mark Webb (UK) came in third and Venezuelan Daniel Dhers went for gold. Who’s the vice champion? It’s not Ben Wallace (UK). Fourteen year old US-Boy “Mad Dog” Bananwitcz came in second with an amazing run and left people around the miniramp wondering who that whizz kid was.
Flatland was dominated by the french connection Raphael Chiquet and Matthias Dandois. These two frenchmen had very persuasive runs and went for gold and silver. Jorge Gomez (Spain) came in third.
Saturday’s main feature was a blast from the past: the original “Haro Freestyle Team” with Ron Wilkerson, Bryan Blyther, Dave Nourie and special guest Mike Dominguez showed all BMX enthusiasts what the term “freestyle” really means. Trust us, these guys will have sore arms and legs, not from riding,but from signing autographs and running from fans. Another curiosity of the day ist the gold in girls flat. Monika Hinz became world champion 18 years after her first gold in a mixed run at the world cup 1991.
Apart from the BMX Worlds 2009 ceremony, there were other occasions to celebrate – at the grand opening party at the Sensor Club and the official BMX Worlds 2009 Party at the Gloria, BMX Fans and riders rocked out all night. Finally, we would love to thank all riders and fans for sticking around despite the shitty weather. It’s a beautiful thing to see, how many people you can
get together for the love of this great sport. Thanks to all of you it was a wonderful weekend here at the contest with the best atmosphere one could hope for. We can’t wait to see you again next year, at another BMX event at the Jugendpark CologneYouth. Last but not least we would like to thank all our partners and sponsors as the BMX Worlds 2009 would not have been posible without their great support: ROCKSTAR Energy Drink, BRAUN, British Knights, Feltbikes, Nikon, Sony Ericsson, Skullcandy, Stereobikes, Dickies, Früh.
By the way: more than 12.000 BMX-Fans didn'’t care about the terrible weather and came to the Jugendpark Cologne to celebrate this great Sport, 100.000 watched all the action from the finals LIVE at their computers. Thanks for making this possible freecaster.tv – this is helping the sport grow!
Pics by: BdJ
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.