Mike Metzger

Mike Metzger (born 19 November 1975 in Huntington Beach, California) is an American Freestyle Motocross (FMX) rider. In the 2002 X-Games he 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. 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. Not only did Metzger complete this jump whilst performing a backflip, but he also set the record for distance, landing 125 feet from the takeoff ramp. Metzger is commonly known as "The Godfather of Freestyle Motocross" and was one of the first riders to begin doing basic tricks such as heel clickers and can cans. Mike is also known for craziness that has sometimes rivaled that of Travis Pastrana. A good example is the method by which Metzger learned backflips; he simply set up a FMX ramp (metal takeoff) to point at a sand dune, then started trying to flip the 50 foot gap. He crashed 5 times before sticking it on the 6th. In FMX today, riders generally learn inverted tricks like the flip by jumping into foam pits, giant bins filled with packing foam. Metzger's method was much less safe, but much more memorable.

Invented 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.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (January 2008)

• Has many tattoos, including one of the word "Pain" on the inside of his mouth.^{[citation needed]}
• Appeared in the 2002 game Freekstyle by Page 44 Studios under the EA Sports BIG license.^[1]
• He was the first person to complete back-to-back-flips (two flips on two consecutive jumps) at the X-Games.^[2]
• Defeated Larry Linkogle in a 2006 episode of the Discovery Channel's hit show Biker Build-Off.^[3]
• 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.^[4]
• Was the stunt double for Cameron Diaz for the motorbike backflip during the Coal Bowl scene of Charlie's Angels Full Throttle.
• Metzger is a devout fan of the ABC soap opera General Hospital.

References

External links

• Metzger Unlimited Official website
• Mike Metzger Official page on FMX Life
• Mike Metzger Official Facebook
• Metzger Official Twitter
• EXPN Web Chat with Mike after the 2002 X-Games
• Metzger's profile on GrindTV.com