Moto X Best Trick: Top 3 Runs | X Games Chiba 2024

We kick things off, making his 20th X Games appearance. Now 39 years old, Takahigashino. Going for the rock solid backflip right there. And I have to throw this out there, when you look at the stat sheet for him, is it shocking to you that you see that he's the Elder Statesman in the group at 39 years old? He's like forever 19 to me. It's incredible. He's grown up in front of our eyes. Okay, so here going into the backflip, watch the hands. He comes off the bars, he goes to the cutouts there and completely lets go. He's not touching the bike at all while he's upside down in the apex of the flip. Then you go back to the cutouts, come out of the backflip, go back to the bars. He's got that trick on lockdown. So an 86 for Takahigashino on his first of two attempts. Seems like it was just last year when he came over here for the first time trying to get into the X Games. He was going to be here for three months and then Jeremy Stenberg took him in and agreed to sponsor him and then he came back in 2007 and here we are. He walked out with an X Games gold medal freestyle back in 2012 and now he's the oldest guy in the field at 39. So we move, and it should be noted, as Rob Adelberg gets ready for his first attempt. This contest was originally scheduled for yesterday. Conditions playing a huge factor, as you would expect. Yeah, wind blowing hard. The wind was an issue yesterday for those guys, for sure. I mean, weather's kind of been the tale of this event. I mean, last year it was best trick. The year before that, 2022, it was best whip, but we've had rain the last couple of years when we were over at the baseball stadium and then they had to deal with the wind last night. And we really weren't 100% sure earlier in the evening, and then these guys got out here and they had a little practice and they talked it over and said, let's do this. But I'm really happy to see Julian Van Snippen get up and walk away after that one, and it's got him in third place right now. Only three riders thus far, but you got Rob and Jacko rounding out the order here. Rob Adelberg, owner of 17 X Games medals. He's won this event three times before, but hasn't been on the top spot in best trick since 2022. Does that change here tonight in Chiba? Well, it's been the front flip combos have been the name of the game for both him and Jacko Strong, and there you go. The lazy boy front flip. Rob Adelberg puts it down with relative ease here in the first round, Brando. And just remarkably easy is how he makes it look, Jimmy. So tucks into the front flip, put the legs forward, then you lay back into the seat. I mean, you're in the middle of a front flip and you completely let go of the bars and you're just laying back. You're looking up at the sky at that point in the rotation. Big score of 94.66 for Rob. How does Jacko handle this? You've watched him, you've called so many of his contests. He really revels in these bases. It's always gold or silver for him. As we said, he's medaled in 11 of 12 best trick starts. He's going to earn at least a silver here tonight. How does he handle this final attempt? I'm going to go back to what I said a little while ago, just a couple minutes ago. That wasn't what he had planned in that first run. I don't know where it went wrong. Maybe he just didn't like the pop that he got off the lip, but that wasn't what he was intending to do. So here we go. Is he going to get? Maybe it was. Front flip with like a switchblade. I thought he was going to try to go for that jackhammer front flip, but he did not. So that means Adelberg's going to walk out of here with a gold with that lazy boy front flip. So we take another look at Jacko's final attempt. So you see where he tucks the head into the bars. It looked to be a little bit better extension than the first time around, but with what we saw out of Rob in that first run, I don't think that is going to be enough. I think Rob Adelberg's going to walk out of here with a gold medal here tonight. Would need a 94.67 or better to take gold away from Rob Adelberg. Taka's going to get a medal after 11 years. That's 2013, huh? The last time we saw Taka on the podium at an X Games. Way to go at 39 years old for Taka Higashino. It's taken a while for that score to come in, so the judges are talking this one over. It literally came down to the last run in Ventura. I mean, it's familiar territory for Jacko Strong being the last one for final attempts in this contest. Always with a flair for the dramatic. I mean, this has taken a really long time for this score to come in right now, so I would love to be a fly on the wall in that judges booth right now. Rob just has to do that nervous wander. He's like, is this going to happen again? He's like, I just went through this in June, guys. So it's not going to be enough, so Adelberg is going to get that gold medal here tonight. So a 94 for Jacko on his second attempt means Rob Adelberg earns his eighth career X Games gold medal. You know, throwing this out there, I mean, it's the last event of the weekend. You were supposed to do this yesterday, and then the weather's not working out for you, and then you come in today, it was still pretty windy. They had a rough go in practice. You see one of your friends go down in practice, then another one go down in the competition. I mean, and at the level of the tricks that these guys are doing, I mean, you got a lot of pressure on you coming in to do this. Absolutely. They understand what's at stake every time they strap in. It only took one attempt here. The lazy boy front flip. Look how he tucks into that, throw the feet forward right there, hands up the bars, lay back in the seat. Brings that one around. It was only good enough for silver for him in Ventura back in June. And tonight, he levels up and takes home a gold, Brando. Congratulations to Rob Adelberg. His eighth career gold, his fourth best trick gold, and his 18th total X Games medal. And for Jackson Strong, it's number 17. And his sixth career silver. And congratulations to Taka Higashino. The 11-year gap between X Games podiums, earning bronze. Congratulations to our entire field. But when the dust settled, it was Rob Adelberg gaining gold.