Marcus Christopher had tried to nail his new BMX trick countless times.
The flair triple downside tailwhip was proving tough. Attempts in a foam pit gave him the confidence to try it on practice ramps. But the degree of difficulty was insanely high.
More weeks of practice followed, and then, boom, finally, he stuck the landing in training. Competition was next, but an attempt at the X Games in Sacramento in June was a miss.
The 2021 Lake High School graduate didn’t give up. Christopher went for the risky maneuver at the X Games in Japan, which ran July 4 and 5. And he pulled it off flawlessly to a roar of the crowd. Television commentators raved about the “NBD” trick − never been done.
The stunt won him a silver medal in the best BMX park trick category. That wasn’t even Christopher’s best showing at the X Games in Japan, where he also won gold for BMX park.
“It’s pretty rewarding to see my hard work just directly pay off,” he said. “I worked on that trick leading up to the contest and then I did it in the contest and got the medal for it. I’m definitely really happy with the results.
“It’s up to the judges,” he said of missing out on a gold for the aerial maneuver. “The rider (whose) trick won the gold was definitely an insane trick; it was a close contest.”
So what exactly is a flair triple downside tailwhip?
“You basically go up a quarter-pipe (ramp), do a back flip 180 and spin the bike around three times,” Christopher explained.
Marcus’ dad, Matt Christopher, who has been in his BMX corner since his son was a promising teenage rider, summed up the two-wheel trick bluntly: “It was insane.”
Drafted into the X Games League
Success in Asia followed Christopher’s fourth place finish at the X Games in Sacramento.
Other showings have been better this year. And following his fourth-place finish at the 2024 Paris summer Olympics, he’s still a member of the USA BMX team.
Additionally, Christopher’s training regimen was recently featured in “Men’s Journal” in June.
Discussing his achievements in a phone interview, the 23-year-old Christopher was low-key and modest, a contrast to the high-octane and bright lights world of action sports.
“It’s going pretty good,” he said of his BMX career. “I’ve had three or four big contests this year, and I’ve been on the podium for three of them, and the position I’m in right now, I’m able to buy a house, and I’m looking for a house … with some land, and so it’s pretty awesome to be able to ride my bike for a living and be in the position I’m in.”
Christopher also plans to build an indoor training facility. Living with his family near Hartville, he trains on backyard ramps, as well as at Nick Bruce’s private training facility in Cleveland, known as The Brewhouse. Bruce, a Youngstown area native, is also on Team USA for BMX freestyle.
Christopher’s sponsors include Rockstar energy drink, FIST Handwear, Kali Protectives and Supercross BMX bikes.
“I’m on a salary with all the sponsors,” Christopher said. “And then doing good at a contest, you win prize money, too, and then you get bonuses through the sponsors.”
Christopher was also drafted in March into the first X Games League, joining a group of 40 skateboarding and BMX athletes.
The MoonPay X Games League (XGL) kicked off with the X Games in Sacramento, featuring teams in Los Angeles, New York, São Paulo and Tokyo.
Athletes compete for both individual medals and team points, with an X Games League championship on the line. The final X Games event of the summer will be July 24 to 26 in New Orleans, with Christopher competing.
“I was really hoping to get drafted and I ended up getting drafted by team LA,” he said. “It was pretty awesome; it’s something different than has ever been done in action sports, so it’s cool to be a part of it. It’s bringing skateboarding and BMX and other sports and disciplines together like it hasn’t before.”
Marcus recovered from broken back
None of the success has come easy, though. Especially considering BMX and extreme sports are inherently perilous.
Christopher resumed his riding after suffering facial injuries in 2023 at an X Games event. And he broke his back last year.
“Before Thanksgiving last year, I over rotated a double back flip and broke my back,” he said. “I fractured (multiple thoracic vertebrae), so I was out for a while just resting and recovering, but I’m good now.
“When I broke my back, I didn’t even have to wear a brace or get surgery or anything,” Christopher said. “I just had to wait 10 weeks before I started riding or doing anything.”
Family of athletes
Dad said his son’s promise as a BMX rider was evident early on.
Athleticism runs in the family. Dad played linebacker at Ohio State University, following a standout career at Lake High School as a member of the 1991 Division II state championship runner-up team.
Marcus’ brother Charlie Christopher, 20, started seven games as a freshman linebacker at Ohio University, where he’ll return in the fall.
BMX park riding takes more than coordination and agility, however, Matt Christopher said.
“I think Marcus had no fear when he was very young and was able to start doing things (on a bike),” said Matt Christopher, who works as a personal trainer in Hartville. “… He had no fear at a young age and that just continued, and he’s comfortable in the air and he knows what to do and he knows where the pedals are and he doesn’t have to think twice about it.”
‘So much higher than anything else.’
Such daring has fueled Christopher’s ascent in the BMX world, including the Olympics.
“I think Marcus, he’s going on a seven-year pro career already,” the father said. “And I think in those seven years, there was more attention, more excitement and more questions and everything else when he was part of the Olympics than any other time.
“He just won a gold medal at X Games, which most of those guys never get to experience,” he added. “But people still place the Olympic medal so much higher than anything else.”
The younger Christopher is eying another Olympic run.
“Making it back to the Olympics is definitely one of my top goals,” he said. “That’s the plan, and points start getting collected for the Olympics stuff at the end of this year, and we’re going to go for the Olympics again and hopefully do better than fourth this time.”
Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com. Follow on Instagram at ed_balint and TikTok @edwardbalint
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Insane trick earns Marcus Christopher BMX medal at Japan X Games | Exclusive
Reporting by Ed Balint, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ed Balint, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
