Cam Sinclair sealed his win for best trick with his trademark double backflip.By Bridget Brady
CAM Sinclair is on top of the world.
The freestyle motocross star has defied the odds and taken out a taken out a gold medal at the recent X Games in Los Angeles – one year after nearly losing his life during competition in Madrid.
Sinclair, who lives in Cranbourne, said the gold medal he won for best trick with his trademark double backflip was the pinnacle of his career to date. “It’s a dream come true. An X Games gold medal is like winning an Olympic gold to us action sports athletes,” Sinclair said.
“It’s made it so much more special, the fact that I was in a coma 12 months ago.”
Sinclair underwent emergency surgery after his near-fatal fall in Madrid, when he under-rotated a double backflip.
He suffered an extensive list of injuries, including a severely lacerated liver, head injuries, fractures and lung damage.
He also suffered memory loss and could not remember ever landing one of his signature double backflips, which friends had to prove to him by showing photographs.
Messages of support flooded in for the motocross idol and after months of extensive rehabilitation, Sinclair was back on the bike and determined to land the dangerous stunt again.
Even after he demonstrated his dominance by winning gold with the double backflip, which was the first time the trick had been landed in the X Games since 2006, Sinclair said his co-ordination was still not perfect.
“It’s good enough to get by with doing double backflips, but as for letting go of the bike it’s hard to get back on because my co-ordination isn’t 100 per cent. It’s just going to take time.”
After a show in London, Sinclair will return home for the first time in three months where he plans to celebrate his gold medal win with family and friends before heading to Rome for the last round of the Red Bull X Fighters.
