Zack Warden won his second gold medal in a row in GoPro BMX Big Air as the finale to X Games Barcelona on Sunday night. Warden was successful in landing a backflip bike flip late tailwhip combo over the MegaRamp gap, then launched into a triple tailwhip more than 13 feet above the lip of the 27-foot quarterpipe.
Warden won his first gold in this event last month at X Games in Brazil with a backflip bike flip -a move he calls the "Iron Lotus" - that put him on top of the podium there. "It's truly a feeling I can't describe ... I'm on cloud nine right now," Warden said, breathless after edging out Vince Byron and Colton Satterfield for the win by just one point.
Warden attempted the backflip to late tailwhip in practice during the event in Brazil but was unable to land the new trick during the competition last month. As the cameras panned to him standing atop the MegaRamp on Sunday in Barcelona, he dedicated the new trick to his mother and wished her a happy birthday.
Trick progression ruled the finale of the BMX Big Air finals on Sunday. Chad Kagy unleashed a new freestyle motocross-style cliffhanger backlflip over the gap, while Satterfield landed a 360 decade backflip over the gap.
Although not a new trick, silver medalist Vince Bryon was the only rider to land a 540 at height on the quarterpipe portion of the MegaRamp.
"With BMX Big Air, this is the simplest, biggest thing we've got and it's up to us to push ourselves to always try to bring new stuff to the table, so who knows what the possibilities are with this ramp?" Warden said. "It's up to us to find out."
Morgan Wade was responsible for the highest jump in the event at 23 feet, 3 inches above the quarterpipe to set a new X Games record on his way to a sixth place finish. Douglas Leite had previously set the mark at 22 feet, 1 inch last month in Brazil.
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