It's a duel! Robinson's first-ever double flair vs. Kagy's flatspin double tail whip. (Kagy pictured) Jared Souney © Lat34
New Tricks Make History at Summer X: Pastrana and Robinson Double Down for Gold
Aug 05 2006 / Los Angeles, CA
Seeing double? Two was a magic number at the X Games last night: First, Travis Pastrana busted an enormous double backflip, the first time the trick has ever been seen in FMX competition.
Pastrana's trick has been pulled before outside of competition – by Pastrana, of course – and many fans who had seen it in the Nitro Circus III video or the DC Shoe Co. ad knew what to expect and what to cheer for, especially when he asked to have the jump ramp repositioned to give himself more hang time to work with. The crowd went wild before he even revved his engine, and went absolutely insane as he flew through the air and came in for a clean landing. The moment will now stand as an all-time X Games high-point and as one of the greatest sport stunts of all time.
Then Kevin Robinson and Chad Kagy duked it out in a BMX Best Trick duel with some doubles of their own: Robinson's first-ever double flair vs. Kagy's flatspin double tail whip. The BMX contest was nearly too close to call, but after long deliberation the judges went with Robinson, who also made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the trick. A flair is essentially a backflip with a 540 spin; a double flair is a dizzy mess, and the top pros will be studying the replay
footage in slo-mo for a long time trying to play catch-up with Robinson.
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Closing out the night, Shaun White made his best effort to make it a three-for-three night of thrilling Best Trick events, but fell just short of the 1080 spin he's had on his mind since last year's X Games Best Trick contest. Having spent the entire session working on the 1080, White finished in last place, following the all-or-nothing pattern that has become his skateboard trademark. That left Bucky Lasek on top, with a switch 360 flip trick and a nollie flip 360 in his run, either of which could have beat out anything by anybody else. Lasek is no stranger to the X Games podium: He's won 5 Gold medals in Vert, plus one in the discontinued Vert Doubles event, and won Bronze in the Skate Vert contest two nights ago here at X Games 12.
We were rooting as hard as anybody for the 1080, but we're not disappointed. Two ground-breaking achievements that will send the sports of FMX and BMX hurtling forward? We'll take it.
– Colin Bane
