The People’s Champion

Words Mike Berard

Date Oct 20, 2015

The act of voting has been on our minds lately here in Canada, and election time is coming to the US soon, too. Even Red Bull gets in on the act, letting the people decide on their favourite run at Rampage. In 2015, that honour was bestowed upon Brandon Semenuk, who many people feel was robbed of first place – or at least of a spot on the podium. Whatever outcome you feel his run deserved, I think we can all agree that a clean Semenuk run is smoother than warm syrup.

And let’s not forget Sam Reynolds’ enormous Superman over the canyon gap. It was so good the first time that be busted out an encore.

Outside of the honor of standing on the podium at Red Bull Rampage, there are two other distinctions bestowed on the most deserving riders. The first is the Best Trick Award, presented by the Utah Sports Commission, and the second is the People’s Choice Award, presented by Polaris RZR. Here are your winners for 2015.

Best Trick: Sam Reynolds

The friendly Englishman with a penchant for huge air and unique haircuts takes home the prize for his simply ginormous superman air over the canyon gap (see it in the video below). It appears that all the time he’s spent hitting jumps with Nico Vink has paid off.

People’s Choice: Brandon Semenuk

The people love Brandon Semenuk. We always knew this, of course, but now the numbers speak for themselves. From his big, ballsy drops to his flowing style between jumps, Semenuk is a man whose riding resonates with the common man (watch him shred his line in the video below). While he landed in fourth place in the contest, he continues to be number one in people’s hearts and they spoke on social channels to make sure we all knew it. But he doesn’t have to settle for warm and fuzzy feelings — he also wins a Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo for his popularity. Fun fact: it’s his third one.

If you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the replay on demand now, and you can even jump straight to the biggest highlights of the event via the timeline below the video player.

Posted in: Videos