Rebeaud’s journey to the finals started with top qualifier Andre Villa followed by Mike Mason.

Mason ended up with the bronze medal after defeating Twitch for the honor.

Adam Jones, the defending champ, could not participate after getting injured during practice on Wednesday.

Keep reading for the full release.

Lusk Usurps Mat Rebeaud to Claim His First Moto X Freestyle Gold
“No Such Thing As Luck In This Sport” – Jeremy Lusk

LOS ANGELES – 23-year-old Lusk puts together a mind-boggling final run as he goes head-to head against Mat Rebeaud in the final round of the Moto X Freestyle.

“There’s no such thing as luck in our sport. It’s just one rider that rode better at the end of the day,” Lusk stated matter of fact after he donned the gold medal.

Lusk’s run consisted of an Indian air, a superman seat-grab backflip, a cliffhanger, an under-flip, a rock solid Indian air and a knack-knack flip that brought the sellout crowd to its feet.

Rebeaud put good effort in trying to knock out Lusk with his final run attempt. He stuck a one-handed can-can, a suicide flip and a no handed flip but was unable to top Lusk’s score.

“It was very close. Jeremy was running very good,” Rebeaud said. “A silver medal is good for me at the X Games. I’m happy.”

Taking the bronze for the night was Mike Mason who was pleased with the new “Knockout” format introduced this year at the Moto X Freestyle Final. He took out Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg to claim the third place spot.

“I brought my A game. The new format was awesome. It adds a new element to it,” Mason said.

Saturday night’s Moto X Freestyle final wraps up the third day of X Games 14. Check back tomorrow for more action from the Skateboard SuperPark final and the Rally Car Racing Super Special final.

MOTO X FREESTYLE FINAL RESULTS
Results from ESPN X GAMES 14 at The Home Center in Carson, Calf. on Saturday, August 2, 2008. (Final Standings)

Final
1    Jeremy Lusk    89.0
2    Mat Rebeaud

Semifinals

Bracket 2A
1    Mat Rebeaud    86.2
2    Mike Mason

Bracket 2B
1    Jeremy Lusk    80.4
2    Jeremy Stenberg

Quarterfinals

Bracket 1A
1    Mike Mason    83.0
2    Nate Adams

Bracket 1B
1    Mat Rebeaud    85.8
2    Andre Villa

Bracket 1C
1    Jeremy Lusk    84.6
2    Blake Williams

Bracket 1D
1    Jeremy Stenberg    85.6
2    Robbie Maddison

You probably haven’t had the chance to see the documentary about FMX superstar Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg called “Hood Rich.” It got a small premiere last April and is now out on DVD. Twitch is pictured above at the San Diego premiere.

The storyline is simple: It’s about Twitch’s growth into one of the top FMX riders on the scene and how he’s changed (in a good way).

If haven’t gotten the DVD, you can watch the show on Monday night on Fuel. It initially airs at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) then repeats a bunch of times.

Check out the trailer below for some sweet footage of Twitch at Deegan’s place.

The prelims were run later in the evening, helping make sure wind would be less of an issue. Still, some familiar faces missed the cut including Metal Mulisha riders Takayuki Higashino, Ronnie Faisst, Todd Potter and Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg. The Mulisha will still be represented by Maddison and Jeremy Lusk, who placed fourth in the prelims.

The FMX finals will take place on Sunday from 1-3 p.m. ET and will air on NBC.

Here’s the lineup for Sunday’s final (in order)

10. Thomas Pagès
9. Jim McNeil
8. Nixy Danielson
7. Jeremy Lusk
6. Blake Williams
5. Mathieu Rebeaud
4. Robbie Maddison
3. Mike Mason
2. Adam Jones
1. Nate Adams

FMX Prelim Results
June 19, 2008 – Top Seven Advance

1st — Maddison, Robbie — 88.67
2nd — Rebeaud, Mathieu — 88.33
3rd — Williams, Blake — 86.33
4th — Lusk, Jeremy — 85.5
5th — Danielson, Nixey — 86.37
6th — McNeil, Jim — 86.17
7th — Pagès, Thomas — 82.67
—————————————
8th — Bamburg, Beau — 80.67
9th — Fullmer, Wiley — 80
10th — Pages, Charles — 79.7
11th — Garland, Derek — 78.67
12th — Fehr, Jeff — 79.93
13th — Faisst, Ronnie — 76.83
14th — Higashino, Takayuki — 76.67
15th — Richmond, Myles — 76.67
16th — Potter, Todd — 69.33
17th — Stenberg, Jeremy — —

Among those riding were Jeremy Lusk, Twitch, Todd Potter, Takayuki Higashino and Jimmy Fitzpatrick.

See some video below.  Photos to come, soon.

Stenberg was happy with his win though he acknowledged his ride didn’t go as planned.

“Unbelievably difficult. Some of the riders here were really afraid of the course. This victory means a great deal to me. I have never seen such a challenging course. One trick went completely wrong and I thought that it was all over, but Rebeaud made a mistake too.”

It’s hard to believe that it was only two years ago that Stenberg suffered a massive crash that shattered both his ankles and relegated him to a wheelchair for months.  He’s definitely returned to form and should be a big factor in this summer’s AST Tour and X Games.  He also had a strong showing at last month’s inaugural Moto X World Championships, taking second to Nate Adams in the Moto X Freestyle category.

In the overall X-Fighters rankings, Stenberg (155 pts.) now ranks second to Rebeaud (180 pts.), who won the first stop in Mexico City last month.  Dany Torres from Spain, who finished fourth on Saturday and second in Mexico, is third in the rankings with 135 pts.

A webcast of the action from Brazil will be available Tuesday, May 6, on the official X-Fighters site.  We’d post more photos from the event, but for some reason Red Bull hasn’t made many pictures of Monster-sponsored Stenberg available.  Yet, plenty of photos of the Red Bull-sponsored Rebeaud (including the haunting portrait after the jump) exist.  Hmmmm…

The next stop in the X-Fighters five-city tour is Ft. Worth, TX on June 14, followed by stops in Germany and Spain in July.

The official press release follows.

Samba on Two Wheels – Stenberg Grabs Win in Rio

Jeremy Stenberg (USA) soared to victory last Saturday 3rd of May, with a spectacular performance at the second event of Red Bull X-Fighters 2008. Mat Rebeaud from Switzerland had to settle for second place after a hard-fought final round, with Australian Robbie “Maddo” Maddison claiming third in the former capital city’s legendary Sambadrome. Andre Villa (NOR) remained unhurt after crashing out.

A total of nine kickers spread out along a 96-metre course proved a real challenge for the world’s FMX elite, a fact confirmed by winner Stenberg shortly after an emotional victory ceremony: “Unbelievably difficult. Some of the riders here were really afraid of the course. This victory means a great deal to me. I have never seen such a challenging course. One trick went completely wrong and I thought that it was all over, but Rebeaud made a mistake too.” Despite his disappointment, Swiss high flyer Rebeaud was stoic after the final: “That’s sport for you. I had a big mistake in the final and that probably cost me victory. But it could have been a lot worse. I’m glad I didn’t crash.”

A heavy fall by Andre Villa (NOR) at the quarter final stage brought the vibrant crowd to a hushed silence, but the Norwegian walked away unhurt. “I go to the gym five times a week and the muscles paid off today. I landed on my stomach, but I’ll be back on the bike,” commented Villa shortly after his fall.

Backflips, heelcrackers and superman seatgrabs were among the incredible tricks on show to a capacity crowd in the city’s legendary Sambadrome, where two large dirt jumps and a ‘six pack’ (three jumps in a row) catapulted the riders to dizzying heights.

The 30,000 FMX fans were on their feet as four local riders and eight members of the international FMX elite, including Aussie Robbie Maddison, fought it out for victory. “I can’t imagine it was even louder here during the Carnival in February,” beamed winner Stenberg after stealing the show.

After two rounds Mat Rebeaud (180 points) heads the overall riders’ classification, with a narrow lead of just 25 points over Jeremy Stenberg (155 points).

After Rio de Janeiro the Red Bull X-Fighters move stateside to Texas, USA. On July 14 the rodeo arena in Fort Worth will host the third of the tour’s five stops before the most breathtaking freestyle motocross series in the world returns to Europe with a stop in Wuppertal (GER) before the traditional grand finale in Madrid (ESP).

Final Results of Red Bull X-Fighters Rio de Janeiro:
1. Jeremy Stenberg (USA/Yamaha),
2. Mat Rebeaud (CH/KTM),
3. Robbie Maddison (AUS/Honda),
4. Dany Torres (ESP/KTM),
5. Andre Villa (NOR/Suzuki),
6. Eigo Sato (JPA/Yamaha),
7. Ronnie Faisst (USA/Honda),
8. Brice Izzo (FRA/Yamaha),
9. Gilmar Flores (BRA/Yamaha),
10. Gian Bergamini (BRA/Yamaha)

Mat Rebeaud at X-Fighters Rio.  cr. Balázs Gárdi /Red Bull Photo-Files