McElroy takes bronze in X Games

Fernley's Drake McElroy came away with the bronze medal on Friday in the moto X freestyle finals at X Games VIII on Friday in Philadelphia.

It's the year of the backflip in motocross and Mike Metzger is king. Normally in the freestyle finals, things get pretty crazy and everyone goes for it, but the possiblity of injury can sometimes hold guys back. Out on the dirt on Friday though, was the full-on gnarliest freestyle competition in history.

With a mix of older riders and up and comers who were looking for some respect in the finals, the question was who else was going to throw the flip. Everyone knew that Metzger had the backflip dialed in after the prelims Thursday, but when Kenny Bartram landed the flip from a step-up jump in practice, even Metz realized that he might need something else to take home all the glory. Metzger won and Bartram took silver.

All of the riders put it out there. Young gun McElroy came out with both barrels blazing.

Showing off some of the best style in the event and super extension on every trick, the kid was going big. You know you are going to score big when you go from a Corpse to a Double Seatgrab over the double set. Switching from the bars to the seat on back-to-back jumps and throwing your body fully out there requires some serious guts.

The judges definitely agreed that when you go big in this contest you will go home with a medal. Drake took third in his first X Games but was ready for more.

"This is great, I'm stoked. I got the bronze, next year it's going to have to be gold," he said with a laugh.