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Elevation takes flight

Riders, organizers ‘blown away’ by BMX jump competition

"Red Bull gives you wings."

Spectators viewing the first Red Bull Elevation competition Aug. 27 watched the popular energy drink slogan come to life as competitors took to the dirt and the air to make BMX history.

Ryan Nyquist, four-time X Games champ, made an amazing come back to swoop a first place finish. Sitting in sixth Nyquist pulled a solid run with a 360, X-up over the lower set of jumps, into a truck driver, a smooth 720, an X-up back flip and a bar spin into the village. (An X-Up is when the rider turns his/her handlebars and creates an X with their arms.)

"We’ve never had a contest like this. We’ve never been treated so good and never had an event that was so rider-oriented. It definitely blew me away and set the bar for other events," said Nyquist.

BMX icon Jay Miron, in cahoots with Red Bull Canada, set out to build an innovative and challenging dirt-jumping course. "I knew that partnering up with Red Bull would mean creating the best dirt jump contest ever. I’m blown away and wasn’t expecting it to be this good. It totally surpassed my expectations," says Miron.

Not far behind Nyquist, Red Bull athlete and X Games gold medallist, Cory Bohan had two flawless runs. Bohan successfully back flipped over a 30 foot set, and effortlessly front flipped into second place.

Luke Parslow claimed the third step on the podium with two of the biggest tricks of the weekend. A massive turndown back flip and a heart-stopping front flip.

Making history, James Foster threw down the first-ever-triple tail-whip that landed him a fifth place finish to thunderous approval.

Soon after, Foster landed the triple tail-whip again snapping up Best Trick for the event.

"Overall, we are thrilled with the way the event came off. We expected a unique and innovative experience, however the results went way beyond our expectation," says Chantal Chrétien, director of Communication for Red Bull Canada. "Based on the course design, we decided, collaboratively with Jay Miron, through a comprehensive safety plan that all participating riders would finish injury free."

Red Bull hopes to make Elevation an annual event, and says Whistler is a strong consideration for next year’s venue.