Ronnie Renner secures hard-fought victory in Sony Moto X Step Up event at 2012 X Games L.A.

America’s Ronnie Renner walked away with an X Games gold medal after emerging triumphant in the Sony Moto X Step Up event that went down at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Friday, June 29.

The rest of the podium was filled up by American riders as well, with Matt Buyten taking hold of the silver medal while Brian Deegan taking home the bronze.

The 11-jump can-you-top-this battle turned out to be a real treat to watch as two of the six riders pushed well beyond the limits to try and get their hands on the win.

Both Renner and Buyten had been building up a rivalry over the last few years, with Renner topping the podium in 2009 while the next two years saw Buyten walk away with the gold. This year, neither of them wanted to give in to the other and thus readily put their bodies on the line as they tried to jump higher than the other.

The crowed watched in sheer awe as both the event veterans went higher and higher with each jump and winched in pain upon landing, looking like gladiators who would rather accept death than defeat. Even a broken wrist or splitting headache was unable to keep the two riders at bay.

The battle eventually got settled with Renner clearing a bar set 47 feet off the ground, clearing the previous record of Buyten by a good ten feet.

“I wanted that worse than I’ve ever wanted it,” said Renner said after the event. “I figured, hell, I’ve got four kids already, so… The wrist, that was kind of the killer.”

Buyten eventually had to give in to his rival, though not by much. His maximum jump was recorded at 46.00 feet, making him settle for a silver medal.

“I looked around at one point, and the entire Staples Center was standing,” Buyten said. “It really made me appreciate why I do this. I may have lost this battle, but it was an awesome fight. We’ve got a hell of a rivalry going. I got the last two years, Renner got this one, but I plan to be back and keep battling for many more years.”

The 38-year-old Deegan also managed to find his place on the podium after registering a jump of 39.00.

America’s Myles Richmond made a jump 36.00 feet high to finish in fourth place, while Italy’s Massimo Bianconcini and America’s Todd Potter rounded out the bottom-two positions after register a similar best-jump of 32.00 feet.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Jul 3 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.