Louisville, KY 2001 ESPN B3's

2001 ESPN B3's Take Louisville By Storm

Publication Date: May 2001

The ESPN B3s - Bikes, Blades and Boards competition stormed into Louisville for the third year in a row April 20-22. After the spectacular presentation of fireworks Saturday night on the Ohio River for Thunder Over Louisville, more than 36,500 spectators were ready again to come out to the Waterfront for another great presentation, bringing the three-day weekend total to more than 72,500.

More than 250 alternative sport athletes from around the world competed throughout the weekend in three sports divided into nine disciplines including Aggressive In-line Skating; vert and street, Skateboarding; vert and street, and Bicycle Stunt; vert, street and flatland. Up for grabs was more than $100,000 in cash prizes and an invitation to the seventh annual X Games to be held in Philadelphia, PA this August.

The weather literally stole the show throughout the weekend. High winds made vert skating nearly impossible so all of the vert competitions scheduled for Friday got pushed over to Saturday. On Saturday, hopes that the winds would calm down were dashed against the rocky shores of reality. The wind gusts were stronger than on Friday, but never-the-less, the show went on. I'm not sure if it was the crowds or the roar of the fighter jets performing above. Whatever it was, the athletes were pumped. The huge crowds in Louisville were treated not just to the fireworks and air show of the "Thunder over Louisville," but also to some huge progression by the best athletes in the world.

Skateboarding

Andy Macdonald of San Diego, CA stole the show in the vert finals and mastered every inch of the halfpipe giving him sole rights to own the vert. In his quest for gold, Macdonald pulled a massive Body Varial 540 that sold the crowd and locked up the contest. Canada's Max Dufor had a stellar run of his own that allowed him to retain his second place standing from the preliminaries round earlier in the day and walk away with a second place finish. Brian Patch of Bloomington, IN finished out the top three and took the bronze.

In the park finals, Chad Fernandez busted open a bag full of tricks which included everything from kick flips to tail slides. The Huntington Beach, CA native put together a run that was not only creative and powerful but had a fluidity that set his run apart from the rest. In his final run, Kyle Berard of Virginia Beach, VA landed a number of difficult flip tricks at high speed to take Silver podium. Chris Senn of Grass, CA linked together a fast powerful run to skate to the bronze.

Aggressive In-Line Skating

Jaren Grob once again proved to be the Louisville king of the park course pulling off a variety of technical tricks to maintain his lead going into the finals. Louisville recognizes this face after he took the park course title last year. Santiago Azpurua fell only 1 and 1/2 points behind Grob, taking home the silver. Third place was locked up by Jason Stinsnmen of Allentown, PA, after he successfully pulled a double back-flip over the sub box.

The vert competition was compressed into a finals-only format since the prelims blew off in the wind on Friday. The vert guys actually adapted really well to the gusty conditions and pushed the progression line once again. The top three spots went to the guys who dominate the whole ASA Pro Tour with Frenchman Taig Khris skating past the ever-consistent Takeshi who captured second and Eito Yasutoko placing third.

Bicycle Stunt

Known far-and-wide as one of the premiere competitions in the industry, as well as a place for up-and-comers to make their mark, ESPN continued its tradition of bringing the best in action sports to Louisville with the first of three days of B3 action on Friday. With hopes of taking home a chunk of the prize purse worth over $100,000, athletes spent the day vying for the crown of Bicycle Stunt Flatland. Matt Wilhelm of Lisle, IL, rode away with the title with a flawless performance using a flashy, energetic style that set him apart from the rest of the competitors. Wilhelm led the preliminary round after two solid runs, maintaining his lead throughout the final. Martti Kuoppa of Helsinki, Finland kept the pressure on Wilhelm as he narrowed the lead to a slim, nail-biting tie-breaker. Third place was captured by Dan Rigby of Spruce Grove, British Columbia.

The vert final reiterated why Jamie Bestwick of Woodward, PA is widely considered one of the best BMX Vert riders around. Bestwick held nothing back as he battled the wind and the rest of the field on his way to B3 gold. Kevin Robinson of East Providence, RI took the silver and made history after successfully pulling a no-handed flair (one-half rotation upside-down) for the first time in Bicycle Stunt vert competition. Simon Tabron of Bristol, England took third place after completing two solid runs.

In the park competition, with only 10 of the 30 riders moving to the final, this contest proved to show the world's best bike riders at their finest. Once again Dave Mirra set the pace and kept his first place seed going into the finals. The Greenville, NC resident captured gold at the first B3 contest in Anaheim, CA just last month. Close behind with a second place finish was Mirra's longtime pal and competitor, Ryan Nyquist of Los Gatos, CA. Dennis McCoy of Kansas City, MO, pulled off one of his best performances to only fall short of Mirra by 2 and 1/2 points, taking home the bronze.

ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise approximately 55 hours of programming, including re-airs, encore presentations and 8 hours of original programming of B3.

For more event information, log on to www.expn.com