Jacko switches to freestyle mode for Poland X-Fighters

Jackson Strong has touched down in Poland for the penultimate round of Red Bull X-Fighters, turning his focus from a single trick to a full freestyle run for the August 6 event.

The 19-year-old Australian had little time to celebrate following his historic X Games Best Trick Gold Medal in Los Angeles last week and made the most of his two-day practice session at the Metal Mulisha compound before departing for Central Europe.

While his front-flip won over the judges at X Games, he knows that a full repertoire of tricks will be required to score a podium result against some of the sport’s best.

“It has been a pretty crazy week and I haven’t had too much time to let the gold medal sink in,” said Strong.

“After X Games I went straight back to the Metal Mulisha compound to brush up on my freestyle and then flew straight out here to Poland for the X-Fighters event.

“I had always planned to be here after X Games but it has been a few months since I’ve really focused on freestyle.

“After the crash in Dubai I had a few weeks off to recover and then put all of my time into getting my best trick dialed.

“I am really looking forward to being a part of it this weekend and the next and final stop of the X-Fighters tour which will be held at home in Sydney.”

This weekend’s event will be held at City Stadium in Poznan, a venue capable of seating 43,000 FMX fans.

The competition stage of an X-Fighters event sees riders go head-to-head over a 90 second period in an effort to earn the top score from a panel of 5 judges.

Riders are awarded points based on variety, challenge and execution, style, use of course and show and spectator reaction.

Strong’s previous best X-Fighters result was a 9th place in Madrid last year.