The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Moorad, though the event is still aired on ESPN and ABC despite the ownership change.
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
Caleb Alan Wyatt is the first person to perform a successful backflip on a large motorcycle. On April 25, 2002, at the Rogue Valley Motocross track (RVMX), Caleb. A photo of Caleb was taken by the RVMX track owner to document the event.
Michael Metzger is an American freestyle motocross rider. Metzger has been riding motorcycles for 27 years of his life, but he began his focus on Freestyle in the late '90s.
Travis Alan Pastrana is an American professional athlete known for his success across multiple disciplines, including freestyle motocross, rally racing, NASCAR, and stunt performance. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s, becoming a multi-time X Games gold medalist and achieving numerous milestones in freestyle motocross, including being the first to land a double backflip in competition in 2006. Prior to his freestyle career, Pastrana was also a successful motorcycle racer, winning titles in the AMA Motocross and Supercross 125cc divisions in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
Freestyle motocross is a variation on the sport of motocross in which motorcycle riders attempt to impress judges with jumps and stunts.
Kenny Bartram is an American professional freestyle motocross rider (FMX). Bartram is from Stillwater, Oklahoma, and is nicknamed "The Cowboy." Bartram usually wears orange in competition reflecting the colors of nearby Oklahoma State University. Before his career in FMX, he won many Oklahoma State Series MX Races. Out of all other riders, he currently has the most wins with 57 in all. Bartam has also suffered plenty of injuries, including 22 broken bones, 7 knocked out teeth, a steel plate in the jaw, and a damaged blood vessel in the brain. Bartram is contracted with KTM.
Brian Deegan (born May 9, 1974) is an American professional freestyle motocross rider and racing driver.
Red Bull X-Fighters was a freestyle motocross stunt competition organized by Red Bull from 2001 to 2017. It became popular around the world, staging 50 events on six continents in bull rings and famous locations and sites.
Dayne Kinnaird is an Australian Freestyle motocross rider for Zoo York Skateboard Company. Kinnaird has been a competitor for 16 years. He has won several competitions. Kinnaird is also apart of the Metal Mulisha, along with Luke Urek, Jeff Kargola, Jeremy Stenberg and Ronnie Faisst.
Robert William Maddison is an Australian motorbike stunt performer. Nicknamed 'Maddo', he is from the town of Kiama, New South Wales.
Michael Jones is an American freestyle motocross competitor with over 35 years of professional rider experience. He started his motorcycle racing career in 1972 aged six. Continuing to race up until his last Fastcross in Italy 2000, he became increasingly involved in the emerging sport of Freestyle Motocross, performing half-time jump shows at football games as early as 1987. He is attributed as being "one of the founding fathers of the sport of freestyle motocross" and became known as "Mad" Mike Jones after an Italian promoter described his stunts as "Mad" and "the name stuck". He has appeared in numerous movies, including Crusty Demons and Eight Legged Freaks, and also goes around North American schools to share about his experience.
Jeremy Daniel Lusk was an American freestyle motocross racer from San Diego, California. He was part of the riding group Metal Mulisha.
Takayuki "Taka" Higashino is a Japanese freestyle motocross rider who has competed in international events including the X-Games, being the first Japanese medalist in the X-Games. He has three X-Games Gold Medals in Freestyle Moto. The only other rider to win more than three Golds in FMX along with Travis Pastrana. A pioneer for the growth of the sport, he is known for inventing the body varial trick the “California Roll/Cali Roll” or sometimes nicknamed the “Taka Roll” which is a slightly different version of the Special Flip.
Cameron Sinclair is an Australian freestyle motocross rider associated with the Metal mulisha group.
Andreu Lacondeguy is a Freeride Mountain biker and Freestyle motocross athlete from Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, born 12 January 1989. He is a 2013 Munich X-Games bronze medalist in the Mountain Bike Slopestyle event and a Red Bull Rampage Winner in 2014.
Larry "Link" Linkogle is a professional freestyle motocross rider and the co-founder and owner of Metal Mulisha, LLC. Linkogle holds the world record for long-distance motorcycle jumps and has appeared in feature films as a stuntman. He is regarded as a founder of freestyle motocross.
Thomas Pagès is a French freestyle motocross rider famous for his unique tricks and his style that has mostly excluded backflips for the past few years. The biggest achievements of his career were becoming the champion of the 2013 Red Bull X-Fighters world tour and winning the gold medal at X Games Austin 2015 in the Toyota Moto X QuarterPipe competition for his Bike Flip.
Levi Sherwood is a freestyle motocross rider from New Zealand, nicknamed "rubber kid".
Jayden "Jayo" Archer was an Australian motocross rider.
