Nate Adams finishes at the Top
October 2, 2004

For the second year in a row the World Championships of Freestyle Motocross treated the planet's best riders to the gnarliest course of the year. Combining unusual lines, more dirt kickers than ever, and a huge triple set of mega jumps down the center, the course upped the ante and would make for a great showdown. Both injured, Brian Deegan and Cowboy Kenny Bartram would have to cheer from the pits as their peers took to the air. But even with some of the top names out, the thousands of fans at Fairplex Park would be in for a treat.

Last year's LG Action Sports FMX World Champion, Nate Adams, came into this event the undisputed king of freestyle after winning his first X Games gold medal, but would find himself in a battle with freeriding wiz, Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg. Twitch lost the title in 2003 by less than half a point to Nate and was seeking redemption. Now armed with multiple back flip variations, he came out gunning for gold. During practice Twitch was the only rider to flip each of the three 75' plus kickers back to back. Many of the other riders predicted that he would win.

As the sun dropped behind the mountains the wind picked up and made the already crazy course even sketchier. Fortunately, no riders were seriously injured. Ox took the biggest fall of the competition when his bike began to nose dive during a huge air landing. Ox had been shredding in practice and was a podium contender, but as he ejected from his bike during his first run his shot at a medal disappeared. Even with Deegan out with an injured leg, the Metal Mulisha was in full force. Five riders were in the top ten with Ronnie Faisst charging every jump to finish fifth. Jim McNeil continued to make a name for himself and just missed a podium spot. The top three rode off the hook. Drake McElroy had two consistent runs with some of the smoothest lines of the night. Both scores were virtually identical as he secured a solid third place. When Twitch hit the course for his first run the bar was emphatically raised. He immediately got the judges' attention and sent the crowd into a frenzy with a can-can back flip, heel clicker flip, and one handed lander flip over the triple. His entire run flowed and he packed a huge number of tricks into his 90 seconds. The pressure was on Nate, but he answered the call with the highest score of the night. Nate packed multiple variations of flips, his 360 flip, and a litany of stylish airs into his run and would spend the rest of the night on the "Hot Seat". When Stenberg's second run was over Nate took a glory run to celebrate his World Championship title. With $30,000 prize money in his pocket, Nate Adams continued his domination in the world of Freestyle.

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