MEDINA, MN (Jan. 29, 2007) – Polaris snowmobile freestyle rider Aleksander Nordgaard of Norway landed a record-setting backflip on his final jump and earned a silver medal with a second-place finish at the ESPN Winter X Games on Sunday night.
Nordgaard scored 93.66 points in the final in Aspen, Colorado, and was beaten by just 2 points by gold medalist Chris Burandt.
In X Games Snocross, four Polaris racers qualified for the 12-man final held on Saturday night, and TJ Gulla (Hentges Racing) finished third to earn an X Games bronze medal.
FREESTYLERS MAKE HISTORY
In the first-ever X Games Snowmobile Freestyle competition, two Polaris riders qualified for the four-man semi-final round. Nordgaard was joined in the semis by fellow Polaris rider Daniel Bodin, a 22 year old from Sweden. Bodin had been the first alternate and was moved into the competition when other riders were injured. He took full advantage, scoring well in the preliminaries to reach the final four.
In the semi-finals, Nordgaard beat Bodin to advance, while Burandt, widely recognized as the world’s best freestyler, beat Heath Frisby.
Nordgaard rode first in the final round and launched his Polaris IQ sled off jumps into numerous backflips. On his final jump, he performed a final backflip and landed 106 feet from the ramp, a new world record distance. Burandt followed and performed several outstanding tricks as well as multiple flips to earn the gold medal.
TJ GULLA TAKES THIRD IN SNOCROSS FINAL
Four Polaris racers – including three from Hentges Racing – qualified for the Winter X Games Snocross Final held Saturday, January 27.
Hentges Racing teammates T.J. Gulla, Levi LaVallee and Brett Bender made the final, as did Mike Schultz of Avalanche Racing.
In the final, Gulla was among the many racers who got caught up in thick traffic at the first corner. Several sleds ran close together through the first lap before Gulla broke clear. He made several passes to work his way up to third, allowing him to earn a spot on the podium and a bronze medal.
LaVallee, who won the silver medal last year, didn’t break clear of the traffic early enough to mount a challenge, he finished sixth. Schultz finished ninth and Bender finished 11th.
The snocross final was won by Tucker Hibbert, who earned the second X Games gold medal of his career.
About Polaris
With annual 2005 sales of $1.9 Billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), Victory motorcycles and the Polaris RANGER for recreational and utility use. Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry; and one of the largest manufacturers of ATVs in the world. Victory motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new American-made motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years, are rapidly making impressive in-roads into the motorcycle cruiser marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships. Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Pacific Stock Exchange under the symbol “PII,” and the Company is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index. Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories is available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.
