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(09.07.01)

STEPHAN MURRAY FLIPS TO GRAVITY GAMES BIKE DIRT GOLD MEDAL

Murray's Double Backflip in Final Round Earns Gold

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Stephan Murray (United Kingdom) became the first foreign-born athlete to win Gravity Games Bike Dirt Gold by edging out Todd Walkowiak (Pittsburgh, PA) by just four-hundredths of a point. The jump that earned Murray the win was his perfectly executed double backflip in the final round. Chris Doyle (Erie, PA) was the bronze medal winner.

Murray is enjoying a meteoric rise to the top of the Bike Dirt circuit this summer. Two weeks before his Gravity Games Gold Medal performance, he captured the X-Games Gold in defeating perennial Bike Dirt powerhouses TJ Lavin and Ryan Nyquist. "Winning gold at the Gravity Games is unbelievable, I_m speechless," said Murray. "I went from being a little pauper and now I_ve got some money in my pocket."

BIKE DIRT
Beginning in the early 1970s, the popularity of Bike Dirt has exploded, in part due to its accessibility _ a piece of land, a bike, a shovel are all you need to ride. The first organized Bike Dirt contests took place in the early 1980s in cement skate parks on the West Coast. In 1984, the American Freestyle Association (AFA) was formed and it held two major flatland and ramp events in California. After the AFA held its last contest in 1989, the sport entered a recession, and Bike Street contests became more popular. In 1992, Matt Hoffman organized the Bicycle Stunt (BS) Series, which included Vert, Mini-Street, and Flatland Bike events. The sport has been on the rise ever since. In Dirt competition, athletes are evaluated on originality, style and difficulty.

RANK BIB NAME FINAL ROUND SCORE
1 6 Stephan Murray (United Kingdom) 88.66
2 7 Todd Walkowiak (Pittsburgh, PA) 88.26
3 8 Chris Doyle (Erie, PA) 87.40
4 1 Scott Wirch (Greenville, NC) 84.80
5 9 Colin Mackay (Brisbane, AUS) 84.33
6 10 Mike Aitken (Sandy, UT) 83.20
7 5 Adam Baker (USA) 82.46
8 3 Darren Berrecloth (Parksville, CA) 82.33
9 2 Mike Parenti (San Diego, CA) 81.46
10 4 Steve McCann (Melbourne, AUS) 77.93

Copyright 2001. All rights reserved.