August 29, 1999

ESPN's B3, Bikes, Boards and Blades, wrapped up today in Beaverton, Ore., where more than 9,800 people came out in the drizzle to catch the final day of competition, bringing the three-day spectator count to 28,500. A spine tingling bicycle stunt street final, won by Dave Mirra of Greenville, N.C., brought the day to an exciting end. The massive crowd also came out to show their support for the aggressive in-line street final, skateboard vert final and bicycle stunt flatland final.

Men's Agressive In-Line Skating
In the street competition final, Aaron Feinberg of Portland, Ore., overcame rain delays and the hometown pressure to win his first B3 gold. Marco Hintze of Ensenada, Mexico, followed closely behind, winning the silver medal, while Shawn Robertson of Dallas, Tex., took the bronze with an exploding performance that rallied the Beaverton fans.

Bicycle Stunt
In the street finals, Dave Mirra once again dominated the finals and brought home the gold. Mirra, who earned a gold in the vert competition yesterday, was followed by his fellow teammate and roommate, Ryan Nyquist. Dave Osato of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, captured the bronze.

In the flatland final, Andrew Faris of Saskatoon, Canada, overcame the last minute venue change due to inclement weather to perform a next-to-perfect run that maintained his first place standing and earned him the gold. Michael Steingraber of Hamburg, Germany also maintained his second place preliminary standing from yesterday and brought home his first B3 medal. Trevor Meyer of Chanhassen, Minn., added to his medal collection with the bronze.

Skateboarding
The vert final today was ruled by the Kingdom Skateboard riders Tas Pappas of Melbourne, Australia, who turned out three back-to-back 540's to grab his fist B3 gold, while Chris Gentry of Costa Mesa, Calif., showed his mastery of the vert ramp and captured his fist B3 bronze. The silver went to Andy Macdonald of San Diego, Calif., who also earned a B3 bronze yesterday in the skateboarding street final, bringing him his sixth B3 medal.

This weekend, all of the competitions were held at the Tualatin Parks and Recreation District in Beaverton, Oregon. B3 includes three sports categories with a total of nine disciplines, including bicycle stunt street, halfpipe and flatland; men's and women's aggressive in-line skating street and halfpipe; and skateboarding street and halfpipe. Competition continues through Sunday.

For B3, ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise approximately 29.5 hours of programming, including re-airs, encore presentations and 16 hours of original programming. Athletes at this year's B3 will be aiming to qualify for the 2000 X Games which will be held in San Francisco, Calif.