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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Michael Metzger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The Godfather | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | November 19, 1975 Huntington Beach, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Mandi Metzger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle motocross (FMX), Freeride Mountain biking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Best Trick, Step Up, Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Michael Metzger is an American freestyle motocross rider.
In the 2002 X Games, Metzger won the Freestyle and Big Air events and got second place in Step Up, earning him an estimated $100,000 in three days. In 2003 he also got first place in Big Air at Winter X. On May 4, 2006, at 9:26, Metzger completed "The Impossible Jump", doing a world record backflip over the fountains in front of Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, seen live on ESPN. He is the first person to complete a backflip over the fountains, and only the second person to ever successfully land that jump. The others to attempt the jump over Caesars Palace's fountains include Evel Knievel, Gary Wells, and Robbie Knievel, of which only Robbie landed successfully. He also set the record for distance, landing 125 feet from the takeoff ramp. Metzger recently has been doing freeride. [ citation needed ]
Commonly known as "The Godfather of Freestyle Motocross", Metzger was one of the first riders to begin doing basic tricks such as heel clickers and can cans. His acrobatic accomplishments include being the first person to complete back-to-back-flips (two flips on two consecutive jumps) at the X Games. [1] As a result of his popularity, he also appeared in Freekstyle , a 2002 motocross racing game for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube, and his image is on the cover. [2] He invented the heel clicker (Frezno Smooth).
Metzger has appeared numerous times on the Discovery Channel's extreme sport show Stunt Junkies . In the last episode he appeared in, he was seriously injured; while attempting to execute a jump with a back-flip between two barges, he overshot the landing ramp and suffered a compression fracture of the L4 vertebra in his lower back. [3]
He invented the "McMetz", a trick in which the rider puts both feet over the handlebars in midair, then sweeps them backward towards his arms, takes his hands off the bars to allow the legs by, then remounts the bike after floating detached from it for a split second.[ citation needed ]
Metzger lives in Big Bear, California. [4]
Robert Craig Knievel, known professionally as Evel Knievel, was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. He died of pulmonary disease in Clearwater, Florida, in 2007, aged 69.
The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. which air on the ESPN family of networks including ABC. The events are mainly held in the United States, with disciplines such as skateboarding, BMX, motocross, skiing and snowboarding. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, as well as prize money. Concurrent with competition is the "X Fest" sports and music festival, which offers live music, athlete autograph sessions, and interactive elements.
Robert Edward Knievel II was an American motorcyclist and stunt performer. He had also used the stage name Kaptain Robbie Knievel.
Carey Jason Phillip Hart is an American off-road truck racer, former professional freestyle motocross competitor, and former motorcycle racer. He is known for being the first motorcyclist to perform a back flip on a 250cc motorcycle during a competition, and for his company Hart & Huntington Tattoo & Clothing Company.
Freestyle BMX is bicycle motocross stunt riding on BMX bikes. It is an extreme sport descended from BMX racing that consists of five disciplines: street, park, vert, trails, and flatland. In June 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that freestyle park was to be added as an Olympic event to the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Gravity Games was a multi-sport competition originating in Providence, Rhode Island that was broken down into Winter and Summer adaptations. The competition featured a variety of extreme sports such as aggressive inline skating, skateboarding, freestyle motocross, BMX freestyle and snowboarding.
Travis Alan Pastrana is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, rally racing and offshore powerboat racing. He runs a show called Nitro Circus and the rallycross racing series Nitrocross.
Freestyle motocross is a variation on the sport of motocross in which motorcycle riders attempt to impress judges with jumps and stunts.
The Crusty Demons are a group of daredevil freestyle motorcyclists from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. They originated in 1994 with the filming of Crusty Demons of Dirt by Fleshwound Films. Since then, they have been the subject of about 20 videos, and in 2007, the video game Crusty Demons was released to the public. Together the members of Crusty Demons have set 11 world records in their careers.
Brian Deegan is an American professional freestyle motocross rider and racing driver.
Red Bull X-Fighters was a freestyle motocross motorbike stunt competition organized by Red Bull from 2001 to 2017. It was the most popular freestyle motocross event in the world, with a 15-year plus history and more than 50 past events on six continents. The riders are invited to compete head-to-head through a series of knockout rounds in bullrings and famous locations and sites.
Kyle Loza is an FMX rider residing in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. He is the founder and member of the group Riders 4 Christ and is a tattoo artist.
New Year No Limits was an annual American television special that aired on ESPN from December 31, 2007 until January 1, 2012. It was created, hosted and sponsored by Red Bull. The program usually aired after the Chick-fil-A Bowl until 1 am Eastern Time.
Robert William 'Robbie' Maddison is an Australian motorbike stunt performer. Nicknamed 'Maddo', he is from the town of Kiama, New South Wales.
Seth Enslow is an American motorcyclist and stunt performer most notorious for his big jumps and equally big crashes.
Cameron Sinclair is an Australian freestyle motocross rider associated with the Metal mulisha group.
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.
Caleb Moore was an American professional snowmobile racer, a quad freestyle motocross rider, and the only person to date to die as a result of injuries sustained during the X Games. During his X Games career, Moore claimed four medals.
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.
Evel Knievel is a 2004 American drama film directed by John Badham and written by Jason Horwitch. The film stars George Eads, Jaime Pressly, Lance Henriksen, Fred Thompson, Beau Bridges, Matt Gordon and Peter MacNeill. The film premiered on TNT on July 30, 2004. The movie is well known for its many gaffes and inaccurate portrayal of Knievel and his career.
