Czech rider Libor Podmol won the International Freestyle Motocross Federation (IFMXF) Night of the Jumps event in Fortaleza, Brazil on Sunday with a run including underflips, a cliffhanger flip, and a Superman seat grab flip, picking up enough points to edge out French competitors Brice Izzo and Remi Bizouard to claim the FIM Freestyle MX World Champion title in the bargain. This is Podmol's first major championship win in international competition, but he's definitely been coming up for a while: He finished third overall in the 2009 FIM Freestyle MX World Championships and finished second in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
We called him while he was still celebrating in Brazil to get the scoop on his big victory and his plans for coming across the pond to compete at X Games and make a bigger splash in the United States.
Red BullCzech Republic's Libor Podmol has finally put the nail in the coffin by winning his first-ever FIM Freestyle MX World Championship after years of coming up short.ESPN: Congratulations on your big win this weekend as the 2010 FIM Freestyle MX World Champion.
Libor Podmol: Thank you. The IMFXF World Tour is the biggest and longest tour in freestyle motocross, with stops all over Europe and in places like Africa and Brazil, so it's been a long year and it feels great to finally win it after coming close the last couple of years. I had a really good season all year but then I broke my collarbone doing a really stupid nose wheelie and missed a couple of events and messed up my ranking, so I want to thank all of the fans, all of my sponsors, and everybody who helped keep me thinking positive so I could heal up quick and come back out and win it.
-- Libor Podmol
What was the crowd like in Fortaleza? I've heard action sports events can get crazy down there in Brazil.
Oh yeah, it was totally crazy! There were 40,000 fans, all of them screaming like mad. All of the Brazilian riders were really good too, so it was even more special to win there. I had to ride last and everyone made a really good run before me, so the pressure was on just the way I like it. The course in Brazil was a little bit difficult but I went out and I was feeling good. I got my cliffhanger backflip and all the tricks I wanted to get and I had a very good feeling about it as I was riding. It's fun to ride in places like Brazil to realize how much people love FMX all across the world.
You came into this event with a small points lead over French rider Brice Izzo, who finished in second in Brazil and in the overall IFMXF standings. Is he somebody you have a rivalry with?
We travel together and ride together all year and we're good friends, but then we go out and compete against each other with everything we've got. On the dirt your best friend can become your worst enemy, but then it's over and you're back to being buddies. Brice had a great year too, and he rode really well in Brazil, with a lazyboy flip, tsunami flip, an underflip, and a stripper flip, really putting on a show for the crowd. It makes it fun to have a guy like him on the tour because you know you have to really bring it every time you go out.
liborpodmol.comPodmol extends a cliffhanger flip during his trip to the US earlier in the year. What's the FMX scene like back home in the Czech Republic?
The Czech Republic is a very tiny country, but we have a lot of great riders and a lot of people who love FMX. The problem I have is that my track is covered in snow right now: The winters can be very hard for an FMX rider in the Czech Republic! But I can think of at least five guys who are very good and at least another ten who are back-flipping and learning very fast, so I think you will keep seeing Czech riders coming up. The whole European FMX scene is blowing up, so there's no telling where the next guys will come from.
-- Libor Podmol
What are your goals for 2011?
I would love to compete at X Games and on the Dew Tour and get back to the U.S. I have a lot of friends in the U.S. and I'm looking forward to riding more there. I would also like to do the Red Bull X-Fighters tour, and I'd like to win the IFMXF World Championships again. I'm looking forward to the UEM Freestyle European Championship opener in Linz, Austria next month, and then the FIM Freestyle Motocross World Championship gets going again in February in Turin, Italy. I like traveling so I'd like to stay busy and stay healthy and do as many events as possible next year.
We'll look forward to seeing more from you.
Thanks. I'm really hoping to make the cut for X Games this year and come see all of my American friends. What are they afraid of? Tell them to let me come over and show them how it's done.
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