After not making the top five at X Games 15 in Park, Caracas, Venezuela's Daniel Dhers returned to the top spot at X Games 16 with a Gold Medal in BMX Park. Today's win marks Dhers' third Gold in BMX Park (he won Gold in both '07 and '08.) "I'm really, really stoked. After not making it into the finals last year, I had a lot of doubts about riding, wondering if that was the end of my run. But I went back and did my homework. BMX isn't going to get any easier, so I decided to work harder, adapting to the courses and whatever gets thrown at me. It's a self-rewarding thing," said Dhers immediately following the finals. Dhers runs consisted of multiple flair variations, a tire grab 720 and new for Daniel, stylish lookbacks over the park visor. Dhers also seemed less affected by the heat and fatigue of riding than the other competitors in the Super Finals .
Finishing in second was San Diego's Dennis Enarson, followed by fellow San Diegan Gary Young in third. Enarson initially placed 11th in qualifying and did not make it into the finals. After Haro teammate Rob Darden dropped out of the tenth place qualifying position yesterday, Enarson was bumped into the finals. His runs consisted of unique (and burly) tailwhip transfers, lipslides over the park visor and trademark Enarson tabletops. Young, who qualified first and was the favorite to win, crashed during practice and injured his knee. "It's a little sore, but I should be okay," said Young after finals, while getting medical attention from the X Games staff. Finishing in fourth place was 15-year-old Brett "Mad Dog" Banasiewicz, his first X Games outing, followed by Amparo, Brazil's Diogo Canina in fifth place.
X Games 15 Gold Medalist Scotty Cranmer finished in seventh overall for the weekend, slipping out three consecutive times on a flair transfer over the park visor. You gotta give Scotty credit for rolling the dice though. In the end, everyone made it out without any serious injuries, and we're all thankful for that. Big Air is up in a few hours. I'm gonna hoof it over to the L.A. Coliseum and check out practice. Final park results are here.
And for all things X Games 16, check here.





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