X Games Austin 2015: Jamie Bestwick Aims For 10th Straight Gold

There’s an old saying from legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, “Winning isn’t a sometime thing, it’s an all the time thing.”

While his sport may not be the same as Lombardi’s, BMX rider Jamie Bestwick has turned winning into an all the time thing.

Bestwick is as dominant of an athlete in the world of BMX Vert as any athlete in their respective sport.

He has won 15 medals in 18 X Games appearances. Of those 15medals, 13 have been gold, and nine of those golds have come consecutively from the BMX Vert competition. In fact, Jamie Bestwick has not gone without an X Games gold medal in Vert since 2007. He was the first in the event to win four straight times, which made him the first to five-peat, then the first to six-peat, then … well you get the point.

He’s learned how to win at the X Games. Not only that, but his dominance goes further than just X, as Bestwick has also won the Dew Cup nine times.

Jamie has competed in X since 1996, and as he gears up to compete in the 20th anniversary of the Games, I got the chance to talk to him. I asked him about how X Games has changed over the years, what we can expect to see from him this go-around, and I even asked him about his newfound coffee brewing addiction.

Drew Bryant: In any article written about you, you’ll most likely find the word ‘dominance’ used at least once. What does that word mean to you, and would you use it to describe yourself? 

Jamie Bestwick: I’m basically coming off the back of years of dominance by Dave Mirra, so he was kind of my benchmark. I just have such a huge passion for riding, and I was given a chance to live out my dream to ride my bike and be a pro rider everyday. So, what you’re seeing in the contest results over the years is just a rider who is having the best time and has not given up on his dream to ride his bike.

I don’t squander chances. I go in and try to be the same as the people I’m following, the leaders, the Tony Hawks, the Dave Mirras, the Travis Pastranas. For me, this is my contribution, to be the most dominant athlete that the X Games have seen. That’s going to be my legacy, is all those years of domination. For people to say that, it’s awesome, but I’ve just seen it as never wanting to waste any competitive time I have on my bike, because I know how fortunate I am to get it.

DB: You’ve competed in almost every X Games, can you describe how you’ve seen the Games grow and especially how BMX has changed?

JB: The very first X Games I went to was a very basic affair. So it’s gone from this very basic contest to what it is now in Austin, Texas, and it is just a mass of motorbikes, and cars, and BMX, and skateboards. Metallica is playing this year, you know, that right there just shows you the magnitude of how big the X Games have become. When you kind of compare it from it’s very humble beginnings, everybody has to start somewhere, but it’s been an amazing ride. That’s been a ride in itself that a lot of people have been really stoked that they got to come along for that.

We’ve seen progression over the years in every event, and BMX for me, I’ve watched it go through so many different changes and so many different ideas of how to ride bikes at the X Games. It’s been fun, and it’s been great to be there nearly every step of the way. The progression that the bikes have brought has actually inspired all the other areas of the X Games to kind of pull off like-minded feats. It was Dave Mirra with the double backflip, and then Travis Pastrana’s doing the double backflip. The BMX bikes have always been this catalyst for incredible change and progression in the X Games.

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DB: You being there all those years kind of makes you the old guy in the field. What’s it like to be around this younger generation, and what do you hope they learn from you?

JB: I don’t really see myself as an old guy. I know I’m 43, but I just have this young mentality. For me, if I can keep up with all the young kids, I must be doing a tremendous job.

You know, there are days when I consider myself a little bit out of place, but I’m also seen as a guy that a new generation of riders can kind of look to for inspiration or for information too. It’s all about educating the next generation that are going to supersede you and showing them the ways of how the X Games work and just how BMX and life in general work. 

DB: You’re going for your tenth straight gold in vert. You own the consecutive record by a long shot, so you don’t have to prove anything, but is going for the big number ten any more special? 

JB: Yeah sure, you know, double digits, it’s a huge milestone. But just winning the X Games is a big deal, whether it’s your first or your tenth. I think going into Austin this year, there’ll be no unnecessary pressure on me to bring that tenth. To me, it’s another opportunity to ride the X Games. It’s in Austin, Texas, again, so it’ll be like the first time when I did it back in San Francisco. It’ll be number one all over again. I’ll go there with the mentality that I want to win the X Games and for the tenth time it’ll be ‘I want to win the X Games.’ That’s what I ride for, that’s what gives me the most pleasure, and if I can pull that off then I’ve obviously made the magic happen on the ramp, and the fans are just going to reciprocate that amazing feeling that I put out there.

DB: I saw on your Instagram where you bunny hopped six people at a bike safety event for your son’s school. Is that only safe if you’re Jamie Bestwick?

JB: You know what, the bike safety thing is just some fun at my son’s local school. I deliver a pretty powerful message, and I’m just trying to keep all the local kids and pretty much any kid I run into safe. I want them to wear a helmet; I want them to protect themselves, and I want them to have that interaction with their parents to where they go over a bike or piece of equipment that they use to have fun on and just check to see if it’s safe. I’ve felt that it’s a great bonding time with a father and a son or even the moms to help out, the whole family.

Once I deliver that message at my son’s school, it then turns into how many teachers I can bunny hop. So every year I go, the kids are just kind of like “just get to the bunny hop, we want to see you bunny hop.” So it’s almost like “look I’m going to get there, you just have to hear what I’m saying, this could save your life.” So it’s always funny just seeing how eager they are, and when they know I’m getting close and I’m about to shut up, the buzz starts. It’s just as big as the X Games for those kids, so it’s a special moment for me and my son, and it’s always nice to just give back to kids and hopefully put a little nugget in their mind that next time they go out on their bike or board or rollerblade to put a helmet on.

DB: After all the years of doing this, when you’re at the top of a pipe looking down in competition, what goes through your head, and has it changed much since when you started?

JB: No, you know, when I get to the top of the ramp and it’s my time to go, I’m just looking at the ramp with a lot of respect. I know how dangerous the ramp can be if I take it for granted, and I’m just paying a lot of respect to the ramp and the competitors that have gone before me.

They’ve got just as big a chance as I have, and they’ve come there with the same aspirations. I’m just keeping calm, trying to remember all the great practice sessions I’ve had on my bike and not to squander all those days I’ve put into practicing. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous, but sometimes the nerves can kind of keep you in check and keep you honest, and I think any sportsman at the top of his game will tell you the same.

DB: It’s seemed like over the past few years, you and Simon Tabron have been neck and neck at the top. What’s it like to not only have two guys from the UK but two vets at the top of the sport?

JB: It’s awesome! Me and Simon have grown up together riding bikes. We went through the whole English BMX scene and basically came over to the USA around the same time. For me to have kind of a lifelong friend at the top of the standings with me is amazing.

I’ve got such a lot of respect for Simon, and he has for me. We’ve shared an incredible journey, so to still be at the very top of the BMX vert world, that’s pretty admirable. We still have the same enthusiasm and passion for riding that we’ve always had, and we’ve still got the desire to compete against each other. We’re definitely one for pushing each other in the heat of contest.

This year also, Simon’s just come off a huge injury! I don’t know how he got back on his bike so quick. He punctured a lung, he broke ribs, his collarbone, his hand. One month after he got like second place in China. That dude is nothing but surprises for me. Hats off to him, I mean I couldn’t do that.

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DB: According to your X Games bio, you started your own coffee company last year. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

JB: Yeah, I don’t know how it happened, but I got interested in roasting coffee. After years of traveling the world just going to coffee shop after coffee shop, I just got the bug to start roasting coffee and taking more of an interest in how coffee’s made, where coffee comes from, why it tastes the way it does, and how you can manipulate all the flavors that are intoned within. Subsequently, I’m opening up my own coffee shop and roastery this summer when I get back from X Games. It’s awesome!

I get just as jazzed about roasting good coffee as I do pulling a new trick some days. It’s kind of weird, I don’t know how I dropped on it, but it could be worse, I could be doing way sketchier things than roasting coffee, so I’m alright with that.

(Editor’s note: Jamie also mentioned how excited he was for coffee in Austin and talked about his routine for all the shops he plans to stop at. The man really does love coffee.)

DB: Back in 2005, you landed the first ever double-tailwhip flair. Can we expect any crazy new tricks from you this year, and what can we expect overall from you?

JB: I hope so! I’ve been working hard this winter on a few new tricks, so I’m just hoping I can pull them off. But I think the one thing you can expect from me is that I’m always driven; I’m always going to be the guy that’s pushing for the win. I love Austin, and if this year’s vert final is anything like last year’s, there’s going to be a lot of wild riding, and there’s going to be a lot of people going for it, and one of those guys is going to be me. So, definitely with the rain that’s passed I think there will be a lot of heat coming, so I’m excited.

I came home from riding today and said to my wife, “I wish we were in Austin tomorrow!” It’s just that exciting.

Photo Credit: Getty