A lone X Games gold-medal leader will have to wait until another time.
With a score of 82.33, popular BMX rider Garrett Reynolds finished third on Friday in the X Games California BMX Street event at the Ventura County Fairgrounds & Events Center, capturing bronze for his 21st career X Games medal.
But Reynolds fell short of setting the all-time record for most X Games gold medals and remains tied with snowboarding legend Shaun White with 15 golds. He earned a score of 82.33 on his first run, before falling on his second and third runs and failing to complete them.
“I try to get one solid run down and then build off of that. Both my second runs I just wound up falling early,” Reynolds told USA Today Sports. “And it’s like, with everyone’s runs when you fall early, you’re kind of screwed.”
Reynolds was in 3rd place entering his final run, but didn’t feel pressure to make something happen. He said he relates the situation to being in the streets and getting kicked out by a security guard, telling himself, “It’s now or never.”
Mexico’s Kevin Peraza won gold, becoming the first athlete in X Games history to own gold medals in BMX Park, Dirt and Street.
Reynolds tied White last year after the BMX Street event at X Games 2022. The 32-year-old New Jersey native had the chance to make history two months ago at X Games Japan, but he placed third.
And entering the competition, fans were prepared for the possibility of Reynolds bouncing back. A pre-made video was shown right before his first run.
The anticipation and buzz from the crowd followed Reynolds each time he prepared for his run – the announcer often emphasizing the history fans were potentially going to see. The storyline can be exhausting for Reynolds and it’s one he expressed he’d prefer to end.
“I would like to put it to sleep because I feel like it’s quite stressful for me just hearing it. Like ‘this guy’s got to win one more,'” Reynolds said. “It’d be cool to like not hear it and just be like kind of back to how it used to be. But, I don’t know. In it’s own right, it’s cool that I can make a storyline for the contest and something to look forward [to] for next time.”
Reynolds made his X Games debut in 2007 as a 17-year-old competing in the BMX Park event. He competed in his first BMX Street event the year after, winning gold and beginning an impressive podium streak which continued Friday – Reynolds has never finished lower than third in the event.
From 2008 to 2017, Reynolds won a gold medal in each X Games BMX Street competition. He placed second and third in 2018’s X Games Minneapolis and Sydney, respectively, before reclaiming gold in X Games Minneapolis 2019.
