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.“
I was never brave enough to combine it with other stimulants, but I wonder how popular Jagerbombs are these days?
Likely the same contributor that made exactly the same point on page 1 of this thread.Â
I don’t know, but those events are likely more insurable as there is a set course that has been tested prior to the event (eg that massive canyon gap the wasn’t used for hardline a couple of years ago), rather than having riders turn up and let their imaginations run wild. Plus, no requirement for doing big tricks to win.
They pay Max Verstsappen $55m a year
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bloody hell thats a fair wack to play fancy go-karts
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It’s a cultural issue in certain adrenalin sports where a small % of the elite have arguably a dysfunctional attitude to personal safety, but this is allowed to set the terms of events they participate in and run. Which coerces other athletes who are further towards the ‘normal’ end of the ‘attitude to risk’ spectrum to push beyond their limits.
It would be a bit like a solo rock climbing competition where you have Alex Honnold as a judge, and competitors rewarded for attempting harder and harder routes. Obviously Alex would never sign up for that, as he understands that these judgements and decisions are entirely personal and should be made entirely free of sponsor or peer pressure.
Compared to Rampage, F1 is very safe (IMHO).Â
Almost everything in the F1 space has been tested to comply with rules that the FIA produce and are geared towards driver and spectator safety. The crash needs to be huge, or the driver needs to be spectacularly unlucky (or both) for there to be a death (again, IMHO). The circuit is, for all intents and purposes a controlled area with known risks that can be assessed and mitigated. You win by being a good driver, having a good pit strategy and crew an, potentially, by not being overly aggressive and crashing.
Another example: I skydive. It’s an extreme sport. People in it die or get life changing injuries far too often (three this season that I knew well).
I continue to skydive because I consider the risks associated with it manageable _IF_ I stick to the plan I make before each jump, if I don’t do stupid things and if i land in a sensible manner. I plan around reasonable worst case (both in freefall and under canopy) and have safety equipment that I can trigger both manually or which will activate automatically if I am not able to. I invest a lot of time training for what I do in the off season so that the first jumps of the year are not alien to me and I jump equipment that, for my jump numbers, is not crazy. That is how I manage risk, but there is never a huge amount of money hanging on my performace, never the expectation to perform unless I am competing and, even then, safety comes first and my assosciation’s rules reinforce the safety aspect.
Contrasting with Rampage. There is limited safety equipment, no ruleset governing safety (as I understand it) and the lack of a defined route means that the rider needs to assess the route they are making themselves. Small things can change between practice and their competition runs that are outside their knowledge until they arrive at the feature. All this is framed in a background of “need to go big or I don’t get paid/win" which, to me, shifts the risk far too much the other way. Rampage is dangerous and it’s being run to make RedBull money (IMHO), not as a sport.
Red Bull Technology (the F1 team) is run as a completely separate business concern from the mothership.
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Mateschitz Jnr is a person with significant control though. Technicalities aside, I’d bet all the money comes from, and contributes to, the same pot.