Mike Metzger (original) (raw)

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American motorcycle racer

Mike Metzger

Personal information
Full name Michael Metzger
Nickname The Godfather
Nationality American
Born (1975-11-19) November 19, 1975 (age 48)Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg)
Spouse Mandi Metzger
Children 2
Sport
Sport Freestyle motocross (FMX), Freeride Mountain biking
Event(s) X Games, Gravity Games, Red Bull X-Fighters, Dew Tour
Medal record Summer X Games Representing United States Gold medal – first place 2002 Philadelphia Moto X Freestyle Gold medal – first place 2002 Philadelphia Moto X Big Air Silver medal – second place 2002 Philadelphia Moto X Step Up Winter X Games Gold medal – first place 2003 Aspen Moto X Big Air Silver medal – second place 2004 Aspen Moto X Best Trick Gravity Games Silver medal – second place 2000 Providence Moto X Freestyle Silver medal – second place 2002 Cleveland Moto X Freestyle

Michael Metzger (born November 19, 1975) is an American freestyle motocross rider. Metzger has been riding motorcycles for 27 years of his life, but he began his focus on Freestyle in the late '90s.

Metzger was born in Huntington Beach, California on November 19, 1975.

In the 2002 X Games, Metzger won the Freestyle and Big Air events and got second place in Step Up, earning him an estimated $100,000 in three days. In 2003 he also got first place in Big Air at Winter X Games. On August 7th, 2003, Metzger debut the "McNasty", a Backflip Heelclicker at the Disney’s California Adventure, unfortunately he crashed on it and has a concussion and a injured wrist, which mean he did not compete at the 2003 X Games (X Games IX). On January 21, 2005, Metzger recuperating from his terrible crash and injury in Geneva, Switzerland, nine days ago. Metzger lost one of his testicles when he failed to land a Nac-Nac Backflip, and he spent six days in the hospital there. On May 4, 2006, at 9:26, Metzger completed "The Impossible Jump", doing a world record backflip over the fountains in front of Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, seen live on ESPN. He is the first person to complete a backflip over the fountains, and only the second person to ever successfully land that jump. The others to attempt the jump over Caesars Palace's fountains include Evel Knievel, Gary Wells, and Robbie Knievel, of which only Robbie landed successfully. He also set the record for distance, landing 125 feet from the takeoff ramp. Metzger recently has been doing freeride. [_citation needed_]

Commonly known as "The Godfather of Freestyle Motocross", Metzger was one of the first riders to begin doing basic tricks such as heel clickers and can cans. His acrobatic accomplishments include being the first person to complete back-to-back-flips (two flips on two consecutive jumps) at the X Games.[1] As a result of his popularity, he also appeared in Freekstyle, a 2002 motocross racing game for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube, and his image is on the cover.[2] He invented the heel clicker (Frezno Smooth).

Metzger has appeared numerous times on the Discovery Channel's extreme sport show Stunt Junkies. In the last episode he appeared in, he was seriously injured; while attempting to execute a jump with a back-flip between two barges, he overshot the landing ramp and suffered a compression fracture of the L4 vertebra in his lower back.[3]

He invented the "McMetz", a trick in which the rider puts both feet over the handlebars in midair, then sweeps them backward towards his arms, takes his hands off the bars to allow the legs by, then remounts the bike after floating detached from it for a split second.[_citation needed_]

Metzger lives in Big Bear, California.[4]

X Games competition history

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GOLD (3) SILVER (2) BRONZE (0)

YEAR X GAMES EVENTS RANK MEDAL
2001 Summer X Games VII Moto X Freestyle
2001 Summer X Games VII Moto X Step Up
2001 Summer X Games VII Moto X Big Air
2002 Summer X Games VIII Moto X Freestyle 1st
2002 Summer X Games VIII Moto X Step Up 2nd
2002 Summer X Games VIII Moto X Big Air 1st
2003 Winter X Games VII Moto X Big Air 1st
2004 Winter X Games VIII Moto X Best Trick 2nd
2004 Summer X Games X Moto X Best Trick 9th
2004 Summer X Games X Moto X Step Up 5th
2004 Summer X Games X Moto X Freestyle 7th
2004 Summer X Games X Supermoto 8th
2006 Winter X Games X Moto X Best Trick 6th
2010 Summer X Games XVI Moto X Speed & Style 8th
YEAR GRAVITY GAMES LOCATION EVENTS RANK MEDAL
2000 Gravity Games II Providence, Rhode Island Moto X Freestyle 2nd
2001 Gravity Games III Providence, Rhode Island Moto X Freestyle 5th
2002 Gravity Games IV Cleveland, Ohio Moto X Freestyle 2nd
  1. ^ YouTube - First Back To Back Back Flip
  2. ^ GameSpot: Freekstyle Q&A
  3. ^ Mike Metzger Injured In “Stunt Junkies” Tv Jump | News | Motocross Action Archived February 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Mike Metzger, Godfather of Freestyle motocross injured- Dirt Illustrated Retrieved November 27, 2016.