Michael Metzger (born November 19, 1975) is an American freestyle motocross rider. Metzger has been riding motorcycles for 27 years of his life, but he began his focus on Freestyle in the late '90s.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Metzger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The Godfather | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | November 19, 1975 Huntington Beach, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Mandi Metzger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle motocross (FMX), Freeride Mountain biking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | X Games, Gravity Games, Red Bull X-Fighters, Dew Tour | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
editMetzger was born in Huntington Beach, California on November 19, 1975.
Career
editIn the 2002 X Games, Metzger won the Freestyle and Big Air events and got second place in Step Up, earning him an estimated $100,000 in three days. In 2003 he also got first place in Big Air at Winter X Games. On August 7th, 2003, Metzger debut the "McNasty", a Backflip Heelclicker at the Disney’s California Adventure, unfortunately he crashed on it and has a concussion and a injured wrist, which mean he did not compete at the 2003 X Games (X Games IX). On January 21, 2005, Metzger recuperating from his terrible crash and injury in Geneva, Switzerland, nine days ago. Metzger lost one of his testicles when he failed to land a Nac-Nac Backflip, and he spent six days in the hospital there. On May 4, 2006, at 9:26, Metzger completed "The Impossible Jump", doing a world record backflip over the fountains in front of Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, seen live on ESPN. He is the first person to complete a backflip over the fountains, and only the second person to ever successfully land that jump. The others to attempt the jump over Caesars Palace's fountains include Evel Knievel, Gary Wells, and Robbie Knievel, of which only Robbie landed successfully. He also set the record for distance, landing 125 feet from the takeoff ramp. Metzger recently has been doing freeride. [citation needed]
Commonly known as "The Godfather of Freestyle Motocross", Metzger was one of the first riders to begin doing basic tricks such as heel clickers and can cans. His acrobatic accomplishments include being the first person to complete back-to-back-flips (two flips on two consecutive jumps) at the X Games.[1] As a result of his popularity, he also appeared in Freekstyle, a 2002 motocross racing game for the PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube, and his image is on the cover.[2] He invented the heel clicker (Frezno Smooth).
Metzger has appeared numerous times on the Discovery Channel's extreme sport show Stunt Junkies. In the last episode he appeared in, he was seriously injured; while attempting to execute a jump with a back-flip between two barges, he overshot the landing ramp and suffered a compression fracture of the L4 vertebra in his lower back.[3]
He invented the "McMetz", a trick in which the rider puts both feet over the handlebars in midair, then sweeps them backward towards his arms, takes his hands off the bars to allow the legs by, then remounts the bike after floating detached from it for a split second.[citation needed]
Personal life
editMetzger lives in Big Bear, California.[4]
Events
edit- 1999 FMX Vans Triple Crown Champion
- 2002 Red Bull X-Fighters - Freestyle: 3rd (Madrid, Spain)
- 2005 Dew Tour - Freestyle: 10th
X Games competition history
edit| YEAR | X GAMES | EVENTS | RANK | MEDAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Summer X Games VII | Moto X Freestyle | ||
| 2001 | Summer X Games VII | Moto X Step Up | ||
| 2001 | Summer X Games VII | Moto X Big Air | ||
| 2002 | Summer X Games VIII | Moto X Freestyle | 1st | 
|
| 2002 | Summer X Games VIII | Moto X Step Up | 2nd | 
|
| 2002 | Summer X Games VIII | Moto X Big Air | 1st |
|
| 2003 | Winter X Games VII | Moto X Big Air | 1st |
|
| 2004 | Winter X Games VIII | Moto X Best Trick | 2nd |
|
| 2004 | Summer X Games X | Moto X Best Trick | 9th | |
| 2004 | Summer X Games X | Moto X Step Up | 5th | |
| 2004 | Summer X Games X | Moto X Freestyle | 7th | |
| 2004 | Summer X Games X | Supermoto | 8th | |
| 2006 | Winter X Games X | Moto X Best Trick | 6th | |
| 2010 | Summer X Games XVI | Moto X Speed & Style | 8th |
Gravity Games
edit| YEAR | GRAVITY GAMES | LOCATION | EVENTS | RANK | MEDAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Gravity Games II | Providence, Rhode Island | Moto X Freestyle | 2nd |
|
| 2001 | Gravity Games III | Providence, Rhode Island | Moto X Freestyle | 5th | |
| 2002 | Gravity Games IV | Cleveland, Ohio | Moto X Freestyle | 2nd |
|
References
edit- ^ YouTube - First Back To Back Back Flip
- ^ GameSpot: Freekstyle Q&A
- ^ Mike Metzger Injured In “Stunt Junkies” Tv Jump | News | Motocross Action Archived February 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mike Metzger, Godfather of Freestyle motocross injured- Dirt Illustrated Retrieved November 27, 2016.