Cam Sinclair – A Dream Realised

By gobadirt.com

Aussie fans of FMX have been on a roller coaster ride following Cam “Sincs” Sinclair’s career over the last few years.  The highs of watching his rise to stardom after being the first in the world to consistently execute the Double Flip on a regular basis. We were all behind him as he marched towards his dream of winning a gold medal at X Games in 2009, and we all looked forward to him battling against his good mate Bilko in the process. None of us expected the massive low of seeing our Double Flip hero come crashing down and coming all so close to losing his life executing a trick he’d pulled so successfully so many times. Then we all felt the pain and elation of watching Sincs fight his way back against all odds when most men would be happy with walking again, let alone trying to execute the trick that nearly ended it all.

Sincs comeback to win Best Trick gold at X Games 16 12 months later has to be one of the most epic tales in the history of the sport, and more than ever before he has a strong legion of fans standing behind him as he continues his march towards the top of the sport. We sat down with Sincs in London in between practice sessions to ask him how it feels to realise a life long dream, and what new dreams he has for future.

gobadirt.com

Sincs, you’ve finally fulfilled your dream of winning an X Game gold medal. It’s been a long time coming, especially after what you’ve been through, how does it now feel: To be honest it’s been a weird feeling because ever since I was a little kid up till now I’ve watched it on TV, and looking at stuff on TV it always seems so much bigger than what it actually is. It is amazing to actually win a gold medal, but at the same time I didn’t really have to ride my best to win it.

Kinda like it fell into your lap: Yeah exactly. Originally I was going to do a One Handed Double Flip in my first run, which would be my safety run, and pull out all stops for my second run. But I decided to stick with a straight Double to get the points on the board and then go from there. I was confident in pulling either a One Hand or Nac in the Double but in the end I didn’t need them as my score was high enough for the gold.

Best Trick at X16 dominated by Aussies! Oi Oi Oi! Credit: Christian Pondella/Shazamm/ESPN

So you were sitting there in first place after the first run, what was it like, were you thinking I’m going to have to pull out the big gun soon: Well I was feeling excited because I had knew I had it in the bag, but it all came down to Maddo really. I knew what he was going to try and he landed it sweet so it was all up to the judges. I was ready to put my helmet back on and ride straight back up. Then as soon as the score came up I was like, I’ve done it! It all happened so quick. Even now it hasn’t really sunk in as I’ve been so busy with media interviews, and celebrations, plus I also entered a truck race with Rockstar and Brian Deegan’s team the following weekend.

What was the deal with the truck race: It was a round of the Lucas Oils Off-Road series and I got to drive the Super Light class because a driver pulled out, and they said before X whoever wins the gold medal gets to drive it. It was amazing, but at the same time something I was like a fish out of water. When you’re racing around a track with 14 trucks hitting jumps it doesn’t really seem real, but I ended up finishing 7th and was as high as 3rd at one stage, but got hit up the arse when I went too tight into the corner end of the straight and spun off the track into the wall. So ending up 7th is pretty good.

How has life changed for you now you’ve won the gold medal: It hasn’t really changed to be honest with you. Like I said it really hasn’t sunk in, but maybe when I finally get home and see all my family and friends things will change. I also haven’t had the chance to catch up with the crew from one of my major sponsors Fox. I’ve already celebrated with Metal Mulisha and Rockstar, but when I get home I think we’ll have one hell of a big party with those guys and everyone to celebrate.

Sincs warming up in practice, London Red Bull X-Fighters. gobadirt.com

So now you’ve realised your biggest dream is it time to reevaluate your future goals: I’ve already set myself another goal, which is to pull another Double Backflip in a freestyle run. I’ve got the gold medal, now I just have to get the monkey off my back and pull the Double in a run. I was going to do it here at Red Bull X-Fighters in London, but my preparation hasn’t been good enough because I’ve been so busy. So now I plan to pull it out at the last round in Rome. If I can do that it will finish my year off nicely!

After your accident in Madrid I thought you said you’d never attempt the Double again in a freestyle run, what’s changed: I guess I’ve had so much time to see what went wrong in Madrid, and I know exactly what went wrong. Now I’m just going to make sure everything’s 100 per cent. The main thing is getting the down ramp right, like in Madrid the down ramp was twice as high as say what the one at X Games was, and I measured the gap 50-foot from the corner of the down ramp when I should have measured the distance to where I wanted to land as there was so much landing area. I should have put more thought into it. My rotation in Spain was spot on, and if the ramp was 10-foot closer to the lander I would have made it sweet. I just have to make sure it never happens again!

Enjoying a cuppa in the Mother Land! gobadirt.com

Now you’re at London X-Fighters and you’ve just come in from your second practice session. What’s going on out there: Everyone is having a problem with the soft dirt. You’ll do one lap of the course then the next is completely different because the dirt chews out so quick. Hopefully they get it sorted. Other than that I’ve learned from previous rounds how the judging works and I’ve been thinking hard about how I plan to use the course and get my runs dialed in.

Ok mate, good luck and a big congrats from Freerider and all it’s readers for winning the gold, and all the best for your future dreams: Yeah thanks!