One knew something big was happening on Saturday night, as the fans and music could be heard all the way down the river Drava. To start things off with a bang the announcer gave a warm welcome to crowd. With his best line being said: “Quite frankly these are the most beautiful people and the loudest people. Osijek is the best city in Croatia. And we are soon to get the completion started.” These words will be echoed as the crowd and city will be talking about it for weeks to come.
In this final round of twelve riders another part was is added to the show for best trick. All the riders had 2 runs with an addition of adding three tries for best trick. There were 4 heats (groups) to help break up the time for a few minutes. This allowed some practice time to get into the zone on the track before the next group. The athletes unleashed everything from a 720 tail whip, flair, and more. The back flips proved to be a challenge with the combinations of heat and humidity as night fell. Some riders during the run appeared to be victim of a lot of slide outs. The amount of bugs attracted by the light caused a completely different story towards the end.
The flow became a bit tricky as one rider Kenneth does a tail whip drop-in for the start of his portion. His bike on the first drop needed to get fixed as the judges allowed him sometime for repairs. The bike took a bit too long to get fixed, only having to borrow another rider’s bike. (Difficulty increases with a different bike setup) His portion was completed but effected his point spread. There was a real sense of friendship amongst the rider, this was evident with the handshakes and fist pumps. (Rare to see in other sports completion.) Logan steeled the show with an outstanding performance. The crowd went crazy and there was a sense that he would be the top contender.
Here is a list of final results from Saturday July 23 2016
Results finals UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup. Osijek, Croatia.
1 Logan Martin Australia
2 Daniel Dhers Venezuela
3 Joshua Perry USA
4 Jack Clark GBR
5 Mike Varga Canada
6 Jake Leiva USA
7 Declan Brooks GBR
8 Daniel Sandoval USA
9 Cam Peake GBR
10 Alex Coleborn GBR
11 Nick Bruce USA
12 Kenneth Tencio Costa Rica
FISE WORLD SERIES 2016 UCI BMX FREESTYLE PARK RANKING
1 Dhers Daniel Venezuela 18000 pts
2 Martin Logan Australia 16700 pts
3 Varga Mike Canada 15400 pts
4 Coleborn Alex GBR 14900 pts
5 Tencio Kenneth Costa Rica 11600 pts
6 Leiva Jake USA 11600 pts
7 Bruce Nick USA 9800 pts
8 Clark Jack GBR 8800 pts
9 Perry Josh USA 8200 pts
10 Peraza Kevin USA 7200 pts
Announcer Ryan Meyer (Tsawwassen BC Canada) was on the scene did a great job calling the shots with his vast knowledge of BMX riding. The second announcer kept things rolling Darryl Nau (Brooklyn New York USA). They were both were fantastic announcers for FISE on their live stream. Talking to Ryan I was able to learn a lot about some of the great moves and the level of difficulty the riders pulled up. Some of the Free-style moves were just off the charts as they became signature move for some riders.
It was great being at the event Pannonian Challenge for the three days with FISE. The organizers, volunteers and crew did a great job making it safe and fun for everyone. It was the fans who helped bring things alive at this event and made the riders feel welcomed.
Looking forward to next year’s Pannonian challenge.
