Twitch hunt

Rio was expecting a showdown between Mat Rebeaud and Dany Torres – and what they got was Jeremy Stenberg’s big day out. Now the bad boy even seems a possible title contender in the Red Bull X-Fighters field. But who actually is the comprehensively tattooed Californian whom everyone calls Twitch?

‘Jeremy Stenberg is the hottest person in the world,’ says Metalmulishababe – which possibly has to do with the fact that under aged bloggers have a tendency to over-exaggerate when it comes to the object of their admiration. On May 3, at the first Red Bull X-Fighters in Brazil, 30,000 spectators had the same idea, though. And the judges as well. That was not only due to the fact that Jeremy made the favorites Mat Rebeaud and Dany Torres well and truly sweat. But also to the spectacular performance of a rider, whom nobody saw as a possible title contender.

The toughest Red Bull X-Fighters course ever

‘The only thing I ever thought about growing up,’ says Jeremy, ‘was having good style.’ The world renowned Sambadrom of Rio de Janeiro seemed to be the right place for him to offer a comprehensive taste of what the 26 year-old was capable of. On a course over 96 meters long with two huge dirt jumps and a six-pack (three jumps in a row), he demonstrated backflips, heelclickers and superman seatgrabs. ‘I’ve never seen such a selective course,’ he said after his victory, which took the breath away from the crowd as much as the stunt from Andre Villa, who freed himself from his bike during a jump, and landed unsoftly but uninjured in the dust of the arena. Jeremy’s performance was not without mistakes, but an error made by Mat Rebeaud bestowed Stenberg with the victory – and a broad grin. ‘A few riders were really scared today,’ he commented.

26 years and 24 of them on a motorbike

Fear – this feeling doesn’t come up in Jeremy’s emotional landscape. At the age of two his parents, Metallica fans of the first degree and mainly responsible for his fast and loud taste in music and lifestyle, thought him mature enough to give him his first motorbike. Since he was 16 he’s been earning his money with FMX and, as a member of Metal Mulisha, is one of the tough guys on the scene. Jeremy’s politically incorrect nick name ‘Twitch’ came about due to Tourette Syndrome, which he was diagnosed with at the age of five.

A rocky path

The FMX business is fast paced and has a short memory, which is why Jeremy Stenberg wasn’t one of the top favorites in Rio. But insiders know Twitch from the past as perhaps the biggest talent in the FMX circus. As early as 2005 he showed what he was capable of at the Red Bull X-Fighters events in Mexico City and Madrid, and was awarded with two second places at both events. At the Summer X Games 2005 Stenberg then climbed up a step and won the Best Trick contest. This victory was repeated a few months later at the Winter X Games 2006 and he thus became one of the aspiring newcomers.