PHILADELPHIA -- Tommy Clowers once again showed that he has virtually no competition when it comes to Step Up as he took the 2001 X Games gold medal in Philadelphia on Monday night. Clowers took the gold medal at last year's X Games in San Francisco as well, the inaugural year for the event.
With the bar set at 33 feet, and Travis Pastrana fresh off his second failed attempt, Clowers rolled up to the start line, revved his bike, and cleared the bar easily on his first try for the gold.
"You know, I never have a doubt on Step Up," said Clowers just moments after his winning jump under the lights at the First Union Center. "I just try to go out and do my best. I think I can clear pretty much anything anybody else is close to clearing. I just felt good tonight and went out there and did it."
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| Clowers skies over 33 feet for the gold medal. |
As usual, Pastrana was his bubbly self, seemingly ecstacic with his second-place finish.
"Starting at 27 feet, I didn't think I was going to make it so I was pretty happy," said Pastrana. "I'm a
little disappointed now but that was really high. Silver is pretty good, I guess."
Jeremy Stenberg, Kris Rourke, Ronnie Renner, and Colin Morrison all cleared 29 feet on their sixth jump of the evening and finished in a four-way tie for third place.
The only question left unanswered after the competition was just how high Clowers could have gone.
"I don't know how far I cleared that by," said Clowers. "We were pretty much at the limit there. I had that thing pretty sideways and I could see the bar right under me. It was fun."
After the rest of the field of 16 had bitten the dust at 31 feet, it was just Pastrana and Clowers left to duke it out. Pastrana's first attempt at 31 feet saw him clip his front tire on the bar. As he rolled back to the start line, he glanced at his dad who pointed to his head as if to say "Think Travis. Think."
"He said to just watch what the other guys were doing," said Pastrana. "This is just my second high jump ever so I was just trying to pick things up quick. Clowers just had it tonight."
Yes he did. After Pastrana nailed his jump at 32 feet, Clowers took off and cleared the same height with ease on his first attempt, putting the pressure back on Pastrana who turned to his dad and heard him yell "You got him! You got him!"
Despite dad's words of wisdom, Pastrana couldn't manage to get his front tire over the 33 foot barrier which left Clowers with two chances to claim the gold.
With House of Pain's 'Jump Around' blaring over the PA at 10:15 p.m. and the thinned out crowd making more noise than one would think possible, Clowers did his thing quickly, smoothly and like only he can.
For those who aren't familiar with Step Up, it's basically reverse limbo ... on a motorcycle. The field of 16 riders jump straight up and try to fling themselves over a plastic bar. The evening started at 23 feet which everyone cleared but the first casualty came at 27 feet which was too much for Clifford Adoptante. The majority of the riders started to have problems at 29 feet as Adam Pierce, Jeff Tilton, Doug Parsons, and Mike Jones all came up short.
The riders will now turn their attention to the Big Air final on Tuesday night.
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