Birthplace: MERCER COUNTY, PA USA
1996 X-Games dirt gold medal
John Paul Rogers, www.expn.com, august 2000: It was the 1996 X-Games, and Joey Garcia, who was seventeen at the time, stepped off the top spot of the medal winner's podium after receiving the gold for dirt jumping, and slid the wooden box from the runway. Joey was a little annoyed the uneducated crowd had given him muffled boo's when he was announced the winner because he didn't perform the crowd friendly back-flip during his runs. Actually, he hadn't done one during the qualifying rounds either. Or, for that matter, he hadn't even done one all week during practice. Nevertheless, he pushed the podium to the side, casually walked up the front side of the impossibly steep starting tower, waited for the people bellow to move, and fired off a perfect back-flip. I'm pretty sure he was raising his arm in the air giving the crowd the number one sign after he landed. It looked like his index finger from where I was standing, anyway. Not once did he lose his cool. He never looked nervous, he never looked excited, he never looked pissed. He just looked and savored every moment.
Poster & Interview: Ride BMX US june 1998.
1998 X-Games dirt bronze medal.
9th place pro dirt @ CFB #1 Jacksonville
Joey Garcia did a half barspin on the first jump and a tailwhip with the bars backward on the second. He ended up in the number nine spot.
