Sheehan wins X-Fighters

The 14th Red Bull X-Fighters season went out with a roar on August 23 at the first-ever final held in Africa. In a no-holds-barred battle, Australia’s Josh Sheehan was unstoppable, winning the event and his first X-Fighters title in front of a sold out crowd of 22,000.

The 28-year-old Australian dominated the competition, winning every heat by unanimous decision. Spain’s Dany Torres finished second, with American Adam Jones earning his first podium of the season in third.

“I’ve wanted this for years, and it’s a dream come true. I’m on top of the world,” said an overwhelmed Sheehan.

Sheehan has been charging in recent events, making determined progress against his rival from Down Under, New Zealand’s Levi Sherwood. After winning the first two events of 2014, Sherwood had been at the top of the standings all season long.

When an ankle injury sustained in qualifying prevented Sherwood from moving beyond the first round of the event in Pretoria, Sheehan could have taken it easy. But he gave everything he had, defeating every opponent - including a spectacular Torres - with electrifying tricks like the double backflip and the ‘Tsunami Flair’.

Sheehan finished on the podium in four out of five events in 2014, winning two of them. He's now won three X-Fighters events in total, his first coming in Sydney in 2010. Robbie Maddison is the only other Aussie X-Fighters winner.

Pretoria results: 1. Josh Sheehan (AUS), 2. Dany Torres (ESP), 3. Adam Jones (USA), 4. Rémi Bizouard (FRA), 5. Thomas Pagès (FRA), 6. Clinton Moore (AUS), 7. Taka Higashino (JPN), 8. Maikel Melero (ESP), 9. David Rinaldo (FRA), 10. Alastair Sayer (BOT), 11. Nik De Wit (RSA), 12. Levi Sherwood (NZL).

Final standings: 1. Sheehan 360 pts., 2. Sherwood 270, 3. Torres 265, 4. Pagès 235, 5. Higashino 180, 6. Bizouard 165, 7. Jones 140, 8. Rob Adelberg (AUS) 120, 9. Moore 90, 10. Melero 85.