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Dirt Killer Corey Bohan Makes SuperPark Final
When you win four X Games Dirt medals in a row (three of them gold), it's easy to build a reputation as the world's best dirt jumping competitor. However, when Corey Bohan scored an invite to the X Games' new SuperPark event, some people scratched their heads. If they were surprised at the invite, they were even more shocked to see how he adapted to the tight, challenging course, tearing through innovative lines with more speed than anyone else on the roster.

He made the cut to the final with lightning-speed carves through the bowl and his patented one-footed invert 360s over the hip and stylish one-handed tables, beating out traditional X Games vets like Dave Mirra, Ryan Nyquist, Chad Kagy, and Jamie Bestwick for a ticket to the big show. He stepped up in the first round of the final with a tech barspin to manual to tailwhip into one of the bowls, but unfortunately couldn't pull the line clean. He finished outside of the top five, but proved that he's a master whether he's on dirt, wood, concrete or anything else.

7/26/08
The Empire Strikes Bohan
Red Bull Empire of Dirt, the world's first BMX dirt slopestyle contest, went down July 25-26 in Devon, UK, and Aussie style guru Corey Bohan walked away with the title. Bohan fired through qualifiers on Friday, earning a spot to advance to the final against 15 other riders the following day. After blasting his way into Saturday's four-man "super final" he laid down the law and earned the coveted bragging rights at this one-of-a-kind event.

The course was built with 10,000 tons of dirt over the last three months, and featured a combination of dirt-jumping and ramp-riding elements on a downhill pitch that challenged the world's best BMX riders. It took everything most of them had to just make it through the course, but Bohan's overall riding skills and unmatched flow were on point once again and put him in the winner's circle.

He dug deep throughout the course, hitting regular and opposite tailwhips and his patented nosedive 360s in the top section. He put his mark on the dirt halfpipe by being the only rider to drop a flair there, then stepped it up with a wild no-footed can-can out of one of the curved wallrides. A cannonball over the spine, a no-footed can-can whip, and a seatgrab Indian air over the massive hip sealed the deal.

Bohan will ride that momentum straight into the X Games this week, where he's scheduled to compete in the inaugural BMX SuperPark event.

7/23/08
Catching Up with Corey
Corey Bohan's knee-deep in the '08 season, with loads of contests in multiple countries on his itinerary. We found him in his hotel before Dirt Finals at the AST Tour's Cleveland stop and chatted about the much-anticipated Red Bull Empire of Dirt in the UK, his '08 X Games invite, and his first love, surfing. Here's what he had to say.

So how are things going?
It's good, the season's going pretty good so far – it's been busy. Red Bull Elevation in Mexico kicked my year off, and it was a great contest to start things out. I ended up with a third place there, so that was pretty cool. I'm just getting into the AST Tour now, first stop was in Baltimore and I got a fifth there, so that was alright; we'll see how we do here in Cleveland tonight [he finished 8th in the Final]. I went over to Germany for the BMX Masters; the course was awesome, and it was just a great trip all around. I got second place over there. I haven't been over there since '04, so it was good to get back, it's a good little scene. Other than that, I've just been cruising, hanging out, surfing, riding, getting into it.

Let's talk about your X Games SuperPark invite. You won X Games Dirt three years in a row ('04-'06), then they dropped the event in 2007. How do you feel about returning?
Yeah, it's pretty ironic. It was definitely a shitty decision for them to take out Dirt; a lot of people were upset, not just myself. BMX Dirt Jumping was there when X Games started, it's totally grassroots, so to have them take it out was pretty disappointing. You can't cry over spilt milk for the rest of your life, though, so here we are with SuperPark in '08. The course looks a little different, and I'm really excited to ride a different style course. Hopefully it turns out. It'll be good to go [to X Games] and ride again and hopefully do well - that's the plan.

Does the SuperPark course look similar to the concrete parks you usually ride at?
I looked at the course online and spoke to a couple of the builders, and it sounds like it should be a good course. You can rip around different bowl turns, link up some lines, stuff like that. I'm really into that kind of thing; hopefully we'll see some different stuff come out of it.

Do you have any expectations going into X Games?
I'm just there to do what I want to do, however they judge it. There's no pressure on me whatsoever, I'm just going there to ride.

Have you been entering other Park-style contests?
Nah, I decided not to ride Park on the AST Tour because I don't find any motivation to do it whatsoever - the course is usually a box-jump fest. I've been watching it pretty closely; the riding is amazing, but if I go out there and try to link up some lines, it's not going to matter. I choose to just ride Dirt and have fun with that.

Have you had a chance to get some surfing in when you're not traveling?
Back in Corona it's so bloody hot, so any chance I get – if I get up early I'm going surfing for sure. I've been getting some waves in lately, and Brett Walker and I have been scuba diving – just being in the water a lot and riding late in the afternoon, that's how I like to split up my day.

Are you looking forward to the Red Bull Empire of Dirt?
Yeah buddy, Empire of Dirt is coming up this weekend. Last year all we could do was look at the course because the weather blew it out. This year, we've got some sunshine and the course is going to be off the hook, so I'm really looking forward to that one. I know a lot of other riders are too; it's going to be one of my favorites, for sure.

Do you think that a slopestyle-type event like EOD is the ideal contest for you?
Mixing in the wallrides and the spine, I think it's a great set-up. Riding dirt is awesome, but having all the other obstacles is going to be great. It's right up my alley; I love to ride spines and stuff like that. I'm really looking forward to it.

Bohan Attempts 180 to Fakie at AST Tour

Corey Bohan topped the charts at the AST Tour Dirt Prelims for the second time in a row at the Tour's Cleveland stop in July, attempting a gnarly 180 to fakie over the final set. He flowed through the trails-inspired course with his typical smooth style, dropping a 360 lookback, a perfect nothing, and an opposite truckdriver.

His second run in the Final was a banger, with a tech barspin to tailwhip and an opposite 360 whip. He made another attempt at the 180 to fakie in run three; the trick is so difficult that it's only been landed in Dirt competition once. He couldn't stick the landing but still managed an eighth-place finish against over 30 of the best dirt jumpers in the world.

Bohan has a busy schedule ahead of him; he'll be hopping on a plane to England for the highly anticipated Red Bull Empire of Dirt event, then jetting right back to Los Angeles for the X Games. He'll be showing off his all-around skills at both events; Empire of Dirt is the sport's first slopestyle-type event, and he'll be throwing down at the X Games' inaugural SuperPark event. Bohan already holds three consecutive X Games Dirt gold medals, but the event was discontinued