Something changed last week.
Emil Johansson was a hair away from disaster. And then Adolf Silva went for it…
In case the above embed code from Adolf Silva and Road2Recovery’s Instagram post doesn’t work, the post contains some not hugely surprising news; Silva has no sensation from the chest down.
In the past I have not been one of the hand-wringers as regards Red Bull Rampage. My arguments were kind of along the lines that these riders would be doing daft, dangerous stuff even without Rampage.
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But during the men’s event last weekend something changed. I think, like a lot of televised infamy, it was partly due to the instantly-iconic actual camera angle/footage of the horror crash and the instant, total silence that descended on the desert.
And let’s not forget the whole sketchy, panicky, desperation of Silva’s run immediately before the crash. He’d clearly already made up his mind to attempt the double backflip before he set-off from the start platform. This was Rampage; you gotta do something ‘special’ to claim the top spot.
And then, here’s the thing that did it for me, the announcers finally piped up with some hushed words, the event was put ‘on hold’ and they threw to some commercials. Commercials for Red Bull events, shows and stunts. All of which shared the common promotional vibe of risk and/or likelihood of something going wrong.
This doesn’t feel the same as Evel Knievel. The Knievel was the principal risk-taker. He was also the principal benefactor. Rampage didn’t feel like that this year. This year felt like Ancient Rome and the Colosseum. With Emperor Taurine sat on high calling for the next competitor to head into the gladiatorial pit.
Let’s be honest, it doesn’t even feel like Rampage and it hasn’t for a number of years now. As soon as the sandbags arrived, it was no longer true to the spirit of Rampage. It became an event that wasn’t even primarily aimed at mountain bikers anymore. It was now just another viral clip that can also be built into a sizzle reel for Red Bull.
It’s over for me with Red Bull Rampage. I certainly haven’t felt like running the usual post-event result stories and highlight vids on singletrackworld.com this week.
Surely, it’s now over for Rampage. Certainly in its current twisted form at least.
All of us here at Singletrack Magazine hope Adolf Silva’s condition improves. Good luck Adolf.
Road2Recovery Adolf Silva Fundraiser
“Adolf faces an intense and expensive road: daily therapy, adaptive equipment, home adjustments, and ongoing medical support. All funds raised will go toward Adolf’s ongoing medical care, rehabilitation, and transport to Barcelona, as well as adaptive home and vehicle modifications and specialized mobility equipment essential for his long-term independence and quality of life. Your help makes a direct difference in his recovery and stability — giving him every chance to rebuild his life.“
Pretty sure Red Bull have paid for treatment and rehab for top motorbike riders like Toby Price and Matthias Walkner in the past. Admittedly not as big injuries.
But maybe more relevant is Brook MacDonald (spinal injury at MSA 2019). Here’s what he said in an interview this year:
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Brook: I signed way back in 2011. The best part…well, Red Bull offers so much. Most people don’t know the endless support you get from them. Whether you are rehabbing an injury, they have two athlete performance centres, one in the US and one in Austria, which give you access to the best people from S&C to physio to nutritionists to doctors and what you need from start to finish, but also a place for you to go training and fine-tune things that you may lack. Along with that, you have everything to create your wildest dreams.Â
They are the best and have supported me through a career of ups and downs but given me everything to get to where I am today."
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From the PB article: “Red Bull is in direct contact and supporting Adolf and his family. This is a private matter." Brook MacDonald was sponsored by Red Bull. Other Red Bull sponsored riders (e.g. Matt Jones) have commented on Red Bull’s support after injury. A more interesting case for comparison might be Paul Basagoitia, who suffered a spinal cord injury in Rampage 2015.
Redbull looked after Dan Atherton when he broke his neck as well (although he’s another RB athlete) and that was just on his local dirt jumps out of comp.Â
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Given that redbull uk posted a pre tax profit of £55m just from uk operations. That came from a turnover of £668m so 8%. Worldwide profits are not available but if you assume an average of 5% off earnings of 11.8 billion usd that’s 580million usd profit. They can easily afford to look after Adolf all his life. In fairness monster, part of the Coke Cola group, could also contribute a substantial chunk of it as he is sponsored by them
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Redbull uk accounts
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My point is it’s not a lack of money that prevents these companies looking after their athletes
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Meh.
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That’s about all I can muster.Â
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Never been interested in the Rampage thing and that style of riding is so far removed from what I or anyone I know does that it simply doesn’t interest me.
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Are we banning every sport where there’s a danger of injury now? Kneejerk nonsense.
Strawman anyone?
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Well rampage doesn’t interest me whatsoever either, but I’m certainly not in the ‘meh’ camp when I hear a young bloke with his life in front of him has ended up paralysedÂ
Odd response given the context..
I’m sure the media will be on full flow praising and publishing too many articles on the next pr stunt
If STW sees Rampage as unethical and irresponsible, should we expect to see zero articles on Rampage on the site next October or was that just an opinion piece rather than editorial policy?
We have to be careful what we wish for here.
I’m not going to watch Rampage as I’m not comfortable with it. There are ethical considerations and a rich company that benefit from the risks the athletes take
 However that doesn’t mean I’d ban it. It doesn’t mean I’d make all event organisers liable for the medical bils and live long care of every person hurt in an event. That would be a disaster for anyone organisering an event with significant risks. It’s hard enough already to organise events
I very much read it as that.Â
Clearly not and I don’t think that’s been suggested. BUT Rampage is in a very small group of sports where the risks appear to be super high. Â
There are other sports that occasionally cause serious injuries and death, there are others that have a high frequency of lower severity injuries but not so many with both. Â Â
It’s right it’s questioned from time to time and I don’t think anyone is suggesting a ban rather that they’re uncomfortable with the potential impact on the competitors when it goes wrong and what can be done.Â
It terms of giving the event an ethical health check…
It’s a ‘competition’ which was conceived, marketed & promoted, rules generated, broadcast, and rewarded by a single company. And not a non profit organisation conceived with the main aim of making the event a viable proposition, but an organisation with the aim of producing an event that generates as much promotional material for their ‘lifestyle’ product.
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I think it’s fair to say that any review of the event would be the very definition of marking your own homework.
Redbull, sponsoring people and giving them visibility for doing dumb stuff since… .. The role of media and sponsors in the injury and death of extreme athletes was raised in France decades back, notably Jean-Marc Boivin filmed for national TV base-jump to paraglide to death.
Then you have the emulators who never make headlines but suffer the same when attempting to copy. I drove carefully out of Silverstone after being the other driver to Russ Swift and saw speectators trying to do what they’d seen but with parked cars and pedestrians around. I felt guilty.
When I pick up litter as I walk around Red Bull cans are a frequent pick. Dodgy product, idiot buyers, no ethics – Macho idiocy symbolised by a can. Madame bans it on school trips.
I might say my opinion is (or was, might be up for review) somewhere between what Jedi and Colournoise have said. I don’t actually ever watch the event, so perhaps I’m the worst type of spectator who only watches the highlights via Instagram clips, Which mainly are provided by Pinkbike and a handful of riders I follow who happen to ride there.
Re some of the comments made, I decided to see for myself and check RedBullBike’s Instagram account. Very disappointed to find no mention of Adolf Silva whatsoever. I guess many of you will say told you so. No mention either of Emil Johansson who nearly didn’t stop falling like a ragdoll down the side of the cliff. Incidentally, didn’t see his clip until he posted it on his Instagram saying how it was literally a real life version of the nightmares he’d been having. He doesn’t indicate how we might interpret that information however.
The only crash footage RedBullBike have shown is celebrating the resilience of Tom Isted.
Not a good look really.
From what I can tell, that’s some kind of domestic US insurance thing. It’s likely something that’s part of the ACA that provides a mandated level of cover for those that are eligible. Most likely American athletes. Foreign athletes competing in the US or abroad won’t be able to use that coverage
Just out of interest, how many of these guys get killed compared to, say, F1 drivers or even elite road cyclists?Â
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Simple answer is…. pretty much none…Â
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Trying not to be a dick here, feel free to tell me to Foxtrot Oscar, but hypothetically if one of your lads sponsors asked him to go do it in the future, would you be happy about the arrangements/want him to give it a go?
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If not, what would put your mind at rest?
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Well that wasn’t exactly the point… But i’ll play along.
In the world we live, he’d be far more likely to get Hardline than Rampage and he’d be far more likely to ride Hardline than Rampage as that’s within his skillsets. But assuming we’re talking hypothetically here, then it would all depend upon things like his desire/want and what we could put in place first, e,g Insurance or promises from RB/whoever. But I struggle with hypothetical in this context as i simply can’t see him doing it, it’s not his thing, he’s an against the clock racers rather than a freerider and there’s a whole different mindset needed for it. I don’t think they see the risk in the same way other humans do.
I don’t believe for a second personally that Silva or any of the other riders have gone into Rampage without any contingency, they’re not bloody stupid, they know the risks and will have factored in some sort of compensation/renumeration plans before going, it’s madness to think otherwise.
You do have to remember though, WE see this as utterly bonkers/insane/dangerous, but these guys really don’t…. They see a risk, of course, but their minds work differently that they don’t see it in the same way as normal people.