All of the anticipation, all of the hype, everyone wanted it...and they got it. Pastrana owned the field and took home his third straight Freestyle Moto X gold medal with one of the sickest runs in X Games history. What about the backflip you ask? It was there, only in a different form. As Travis finished his finals run, he hit the far jump, launched backwards off the bike, flipped, and landed on his feet, arms in the air as his bike cruised on autopilot to the pits. The crowd, already on their feet, lost it.

"Everyone was yelling for the backflip, so I had to give them one" he said from the podium with a smile. Ten minutes later, Travis was gone, off to the airport to compete at the AMA Nationals. Then it is back to Philly for the Step-Up and Big Air competitions on Monday and Tuesday. As he was running to his awaiting police escort, headed for the airport he said, "I was just out there having a good time, this is unbelievable." His 96.33 was well ahead of the field and crushed his score from last year's X Games performance.

Travis going for full extension on the Superman seatgrab.

Clifford Adoptante took second, checking in with a 93.67 after a series of super slick runs through the prelims and finals. The Flying Hawaiian dropped a large Superman seat grab and slow Double Saran Wrap that had many in the crowd sure he was going to case the landing. Coming into the final seconds Clifford unleashed a super extended lookback Hart Attack and a No Handed Cat Walk, locking him into first place, for the time being.

Then it was Travis's turn. Throughout the prelims, the 17 year-old seemed to be finding some of the best lines, taking advantage of almost all of the course and hitting tricks at every turn. He began his final run to the chant of "backflip, backflip",the crowd hoping that he would come through. Screaming across the course, Travis flew into a tweaked out, almost 90 degree tailwhip that he just pulled back at the last second. After that, there was little doubt about the outcome of the competition. Just for good measure he threw out a nasty Indian Air, a Double Saran Wrap and a Hart Attack with a long look out to the crowd. All of that was only set-up though for an extended Lazy Boy off the super kicker. He laid himself out completely, reaching back to grab the handle on the back of his bike. The only thing that was left was the backflip variation, a perfect exclamation point to end his run.

Pastrana blows minds with his Kiss of Death Indian Air.

Third place was a bit of a shocker with alternate rider Jake Windham throwing out the burliest Kiss of Death of the event (The Ruler), pulling his bike to 90 degrees and bringing his head well below his front fender. He will definitely be a force in the Big Air if he comes with that kind of ammo. Windham was pleased with his performance, saying, "I can't believe it, I came in as an alternate and then I get up on the podium, it's awesome. When you have twenty of the best riders in the world here, and then you are up in the front, it's unreal, I don't even know what to think yet."

Metal Mulisha Chairman Brian Deegan, last year's bronze medalist and a crowd favorite ended up seventh after getting caught up and crashing into the barrier during his final run of the prelims. Tommy "Tomcat" Clowers was fourth with his signature Catwalk and a Lookback Hart Attack. Other standout tricks came from Dan Pastor with a fully extended Cliffhanger and Mad Mike Jones who unleashed a couple of sick tailwhips over the super kicker.

Jeff Tilton was another one of the stories of the day, when in mid-tailwhip he popped his shoulder out of it's joint. He landed and cruised to the pits, where his trainer worked to get things back into place. Not one to give up, Tilton requested an additional shot at his last qualifying run and after 15 minutes he was back out on the course.

The winner's circle.

After day one of the Moto X events, the people of Philly have been converted, The Metal Mulisha is out in full force and Pastrana has come through with the performance of the day. Now it is on to the Step-Up competition and the new Big Air comp...which brings us back to the question, what about that Backflip?

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