X Games 2014: Kyle Baldock kept pushing in final run, despite two scores

At the BMX Dirt competition at the 2014 X Games in Austin, Kyle Baldock dominated the finals of the event from his first run. He opened the gate with a 92.33 and a 89.66 in his first two of three runs. Heading into the the final run in the Finals, Baldock had posted the highest two scores in the final.

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He then came out in his third and final run and posted a 95.00, extending his strangle hold on the gold medal, which he eventually won. He posted three of the 4 highest scores in the final of the event and the two highest scores in the tournament.

Baldock could’ve taken a victory lap during his final run, though there were a couple of riders still left to compete, instead he pushed it to make sure he walked away with gold.

“I think what we do as BMXers is that it is one-on-one pretty much,” Baldock told FanSided. “We’re riding against each other on the score board but we’re always trying to progress and be better than the run before us. That is how we are, it doesn’t matter if we’re in the lead, there is no safety.

“Any of these two dudes could’ve taken me out and anyone could’ve done anything to do that.”

Baldock added: “Now I can try and just go do what I set to do and it pulled off. I didn’t mean to do a lot of tricks that I did but you’re in the zone.”

Baldock said his two previously high scores and a certain level of comfort atop the standings didn’t put him at ease in the final run, the one that landed him the gold medal.

“The scores are just a score to us, we all see it and the next person drops in,” Baldock said. “So that person has the ability to take you out.

“All the dudes that we’re riding with are the best in the world, it’s not like it’s me versus all these other kids, these people are the best. I look up to them so much, so that when they’re doing something I need to understand that I need to get up there and do whatever I need to do to get there.

“There was no safety point, anyone could’ve won.”

Baldock commended his fellow competitors and kept pushing it despite a broken finger, a true display of athleticism and competitive spirit at the X Games.