By Leigh Ramsdell, Mongoose Sports Marketing Manager
X Games returned to Japan in 2023, and with it were Mongoose pros Kevin Peraza and Pat Casey. They both arrived in Chiba, Japan ready to roll and throw down the only way they know how. Both Kevin and Pat competed in BMX Park and BMX Park Best trick – while Kevin was also busy competing in BMX Street.
The event started with BMX Park Eliminations, and Pat Casey came in hot with a 360 double tailwhip, a backflip bar spin to can-can and closing out his run with a 360 tailwhip to fakie on the volcano ramp.
Also starting his run with a big bang was Kevin doing a huge transfer with a tailwhip thrown in for good measure. His runs had Peraza written all over them, consisting of the big technical tricks like a flairwhip on the quarter and stylish moves like tire-sliding the volcano ramp. On Kevin’s second run he attempted the big transfer with a double tailwhip, but looped out on the landing. BMX Park finals was rained out so everyone had to stick with the elimination scores.
On to BMX Park Best trick! The format was simple; the athletes have a 30-minute session and the best trick wins. Kevin started the event off with a 360 tailwhip drop in. After that he went for the big transfer double tailwhip, just missing it a few times. Then he decided to try the transfer with a flair in the middle! That didn’t go as planned but he walked away!
Pat Casey is known for his freecoaster skills, and did not let anyone down on that front. Pat pulled a clean 360 double tailwhip to fakie first try, but that was just a warmup. What he really wanted was a 360 TRIPLE tailwhip to fakie. He gave it three good tries, but just couldn’t nail it walking away to try again another day. Ryan Williams ending up winning the event with a 900 flair!
The final event for our Mongoose pro Kevin Peraza was BMX Street. Pulling double duty is normally no easy task except the fact that Kevin loves to ride his bike all the time. Kevin started his street run with a 360 drop off a roof into a bank. He kept the run going with some great technical moves like a smith to bar spin, up rail to 360 and classic Peraza nose manual madness!
2023 X Games Japan is a wrap, and we are grateful to have two incredible athletes representing Mongoose on such a big stage! Now they are both meeting up with teammate Nikita Ducarroz for the FISE World Cup in Montpellier, France.
Photo credit Ryan Fudger
