EXPN

EXPN

When most guys return to their respective sport, it’s not so much a comeback but rather a sad display of false hopes.  Michael Jordan?  Horrible!  Everyone’s lasting impression of you is playing on a crappy team JERSEY with no hops.  Jose Canseco?  Sorry to say this man but you looked much better on the ROIDS.  Plus your reputation as a rat will never escape you.  The worst comebacks are in boxing.  Iron Mike Tyson came back looking like a PUNCHING BAG.  And most of you probably don’t know this guy, but as known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” KEN SHAMROCK is an MMA fighter who started and continued a very successful career in the UFC.  Now his face just looks like BEEF JERKY.

Despite these legendary athletes failing miserably at their final attempt at glory, there are a select few who come back as if they had never left.  Moto X legend Travis Pastrana pulled out every trick as he impressed the judges and brought the fans to their feet when he took the gold medal in the Moto X Freestyle Final at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Thursday.

For a guy who has not competed at the X Games in Moto X in four years, he completely destroyed the competition.  That’s what people at his caliber do.

“This is a great start to the X Games,” said Pastrana. “Out of the four events I am competing in, this is the last one I expected to win.”

As he entered his third run in the final, Pastrana had the score which would bring him gold but that didn’t stop him from giving the crowd an exciting finish. At times standing up and waving to the crowd, he smoothly executed the double backflip, a notable trick of his that earned him gold in Moto X Best Trick in 2006.

“When I saw the course, I felt that it really favored me,” Pastrana added. “It was a lot of fun, especially the wall rides, and I knew that the only way to beat everyone else was to bring back the double backflip.”

In his X Games debut, New Zealand native Levi Sherwood took home the silver medal, with Nate Adams of Glendale, Ariz., rounding out the top three.  This is Adams’ sixth Freestyle medal, his ninth overall.