Today the top 12 athletes tear up the course in Free-Style. It is going to be a truly tough competition as the judges have to award points based on various elements. Osijek has done an incredible job hosting the event with such a great location beside the river Drava. People are saying great things about this city, with so much energy at the park. The music festivals have had some incredible parties being held at various location throughout the city.
The BMX Course has a lot of tradition Box Jump Hits and Quarter Pike hits given the rider a lot of time to get some real air hang time. There are a lot of obstacles in the park especially the layout of the rails. There was 24 riders broken down into 6 separate heats. Each rider gets 2 runs and overall impression point 100. The Judges are looking for the following: Amplitude and speed, Technical Difficulty, Style, Park Exploitation. Each rider gets a limited amount of time to perform.
The three judges are: Dave Cleworth Great Britain, Romuald Noirot France and Igor Vukadinovik Croatia.
The tricks yesterday in the semi-finals ranged from a classic 360, no handed back flip, bar spin and many other tricks. The videos say it all as it is near impossible to explain all the terminology. One performance that stood out was the Jonathan Camacho from Ecuador, his moves were incredible. He suffered a minor error after a double tail whip off a jump, his landing mark was off holding him from getting the points needed. The Video is below as it shows some amazing air time.
The top twelve are:
1. Logan Martin Australia 92.00 pts.
2. Daniel Dhrers Venezuela 91.66 pts.
3. Nick Bruce USA 89.33 pts.
4. Jack Clark Great Britain 88.00 pts.
5. Joshua Perry USA 87.33 pts.
6. Daniel Sandoval USA 86.33 pts.
7. Jake Leiva USA 84.33 pts.
8. Kenneth Tencio Croatia 83.66 pts.
9. Cam Peake Great Britain 83.33 pts
10. Mike Varga Canada 82.66 pts
11. Declan Brooks Great Britain 82.33 pts
12. Alex Coleborn Great Britain 82.00 pts
The amateur division was held yesterday and continues today. It gives young riders the opportunity to experience the same course as the professionals. I got a chance to speak to some athletes that attended. Marko Virovac and Marko Bartolac were there as they came all the way from Zagreb to see the legends at the BMX competion.
They said “The hardest part was the rails as you needed perfect timing and balance.” I asked how it was hanging out with the professionals. Their response was: “They were cool and gave good advice on the course.” Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Pannonian Challenge, as there is lots to see and do. The Fun Zone has games from oversized dart toss, soccer goal point score nets and a Play Station area. There is plenty of areas to get shade and chill.
The Music festival is in full swing with international DJ performance from DJ Oliver and DJ Bizzo Bodega & Phat Phillie. For the complete Schedule check out the Pannonian web site Tonight is the finals in Osijek with media coverage on TV and internet for those that can’t make it. This is a big event being covered by media and press from all around the world.
BMX World Cup Series next stop for the riders is USA, Canada and finishing up in China.
