Catching up with X Games 11 silver medalist Chad Kagy of
Gilroy
Gilroy – First, Dave Mirra bit the flatbottom of the vert ramp, sustained a mild concussion and bowed out of competition.
A few riders later, John Parker was knocked unconscious when he landed head first after over-rotating his bike forward coming out of a tailwhip into a barspin.
When it came down to it, Chad Kagy just didn’t want to follow their leads.
So the nine-year X Games veteran played it a little safe during his second run in the X Games 11 BMX Vert Finals, a move which paid the 26-year-old Gilroy native back in silver.
“I was really happy with my performance,” said Kagy in an interview with the Dispatch on Friday, on a short break in his hotel room. “On my second run, I didn’t have all that much left. I had a couple extra tricks I could have done, but everyone was sleeping on the flatbottom and I didn’t want to join them.”
With a score of 92.00, Kagy took second between Jamie Bestwick (1st, 95.00) and Kevin Robinson (3rd, 91.00), all three of whom live within five miles of each other in State College, Pa.
Coincidence?
“It’s more of about being three very determined people who all have access to the best training facility (the Woodward Camp) in the world,” Kagy said.
His first run was solid enough to put him in second place behind Bestwick. The second run was similar to the first, but it lacked a Kagy original trick that the first go had.
“I’m the only one doing it. I invented it,” Kagy said. “I do (a barspin) and then really late, I do a tailwhip. It’s not really a common thing that I do, let alone (the fact that) nobody else does it.”
It was that trick, only in opposite order, that Parker crashed trying to land. After spending the night in the hospital, Parker flew back home, said Kagy, who visited the injured rider at the hospital late last night.
Right after Mirra’s fall at the live competition, Kagy slid down the ramp to the bottom to help out his fellow competitor, who was woozy from the fall.
“He hit his forehead straight into the ground,” Kagy said. “When you start staggering, your head’s not there and your body’s not there … I think he would have fallen over if I didn’t grab his arm.”
Kagy said of the number of crashes Thursday night, “It was a handful, a few more than usual.”
The silver medalist attributed that to the X Games riders trying to take their tricks to the next level to beat out the stiff competition.
“(To win), you’ve got to seriously put it on the line, so there’s a lot of risk,” Kagy said.
On Saturday at 5pm, Kagy will compete in his second and final event, the BMX Very Best Trick competition. It’s the first time best trick – where competitors pull out the stops to land the most difficult, spectacular single trick they can manage – will be held for BMX.
Kagy will be attempting two tricks that neither he – nor anyone else – has ever attempted. He wouldn’t divulge the details of the tricks – “It wouldn’t make sense. I’ve told some other riders and they don’t even understand what’s going on,” – but said the open jam session, where riders have 30 minutes to stick their top tricks, would be “an inventing session.”
The best trick competition will not be broadcast live, but will be aired on ESPN at a later date.
X GAMES 11
BMX FREESTYLE VERT
Thursday’s results from the Staples Center in Los Angeles:
Name Score
1. Jamie Bestwick 95.00
2. Chad Kagy 92.00
3. Kevin Robinson 91.00
4. Dennis McCoy 86.66
5. Jay Miron 86.33
6. John Parker 86.00
7. Dave Mirra 85.33
8. Koji Kraft 85.00
9. Jay Eggelston 83.00
10. Tim Wood 82.00
