Extreme Sports (also called action sport and adventure sport) is a media term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger.These activities often involve speed, height, high level of physical exertion, highly specialized gear, or spectacular stunts. Although many of these sports involve a high level of risk, they often require a very high level of training as well. Participants in these sports insist upon redundant safeguards to allow for the unexpected.
The origin of the divergence of the term ‘extreme sports’ from ‘sports’ may date to the 1950s in the appearance of a phrase usually, but wrongly, attributed to Ernest Hemingway. The phrase is:
- “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”
The implication of the phrase was that the word ‘sport’ defined an activity in which one might be killed. The other activities being termed ‘games’. The phrase may have been invented by either writer Barnaby Conrad or automotive author Ken Purdy.
In recent decades the term extreme sport was further promoted by X Games, a multi-sport event created and developed by ESPN. The first XGames (known as 1995 Extreme Games) were held in Newport, Providence, Mount Snow and Vermont in United States.
A feature of such activities in the view of some is their alleged capacity to induce an adrenaline rush in participants.However, the medical view is that the rush or high associated with the activity is not due to adrenaline being released as a response to fear, but due to increased levels of dopamine, endorphins and serotonis because of the high level of physical exertion.
There are some types of extreme sports:
X GAMES
The X Games is an annual event with a focus on extreme action sports. The Winter X Games are held in January or February and the Summer X Games are usually held in August, both in the United States. Participants compete to win bronze, silver and gold medals, and prize money. The competition often features new tricks such as Nate J’s 900 in skateboarding and travis pastrana double backflip in Motocross. Concurrent with competition is the “X Fest” sports and music festival, which offers live music, athlete autograph sessions and interactive elements. The location of the Winter X Games is in Aspen, Colorado through 2012, while the location for the Summer X Games is in Los Angeles through 2009. The X Games also has international competitions and demos around the world that are held at varying times throughout the year. The games are shown live on ESPN and ABC television.
- Freestyle BMX
- Vert
- Parks
- Big Air
- Street
- SuperPark
- vert
- MotoX
- Best Trick
- Speed & Style
- Step Up
- Supermoto
- Supercross
- Skateboarding
- Vert
- Street
- Big Air
- SuperPark
- Rallying
FREESTYLE BMX
Street
Street riding involves maneuvers on obstacles that are typically manmade and not designed for bicycles. They can be, but are not limited to, handrails, ledges, curved walls, banks, and unusually shaped architectural designs. Through online surveys and magazine polls, it has been found that a large percentage of riders today participate in this discipline. As in the other forms of freestyle riding, there are no specific rules; style/aesthetics, skills, and creativity are stressed.
Park
Skatepark are used by BMXers as well as skateboarders, inline skaters and sometimes scooter-riders. Skateparks themselves can be made of wood, concrete or metal. Styles of riding will depend on the style of the parks. Wood is more suited to a flowing style, with riders searching for gaps, and aiming to air higher from thecoping. Concrete parks usually tend to contain bowls and pools. However, it is not unusual for riders to merge the two styles in either type of park.
Concrete parks are commonly built outdoors due to their ability to withstand years of exposure to the elements. Concrete parks are also often publicly funded due to their permanent and costly nature. Parks made from wood are popular with commercial skateparks due to ease of construction, availability of materials, cost, and the relative safety associated with falling on wood instead of concrete. Parks designed with BMX use in mind will typically have steel coping that is less prone to damage than concrete or pool coping.
Vert
Perhaps the most extreme of the BMX disciplines, a half pipe.consists of two quarter pipes set facing each other (much like a mini ramp), but at around 10-15 feet tall (around 2.5 to 3.5 metres) high. The biggest ramp ever used in competition is the X-Games big air ramp at 27 feet tall. Both ‘faces’ of the ramp have an extension to the transition that is vertical, hence the name.
Riders go up each jump, performing tricks in the air before landing into the transition having turned 180 degrees (assumptively. variations include 540, 900). A typical run involves going from one side to the other, airing above the coping each side. Also possible are ‘lip tricks’ – tricks on the platform at the top of the ramps before dropping into the ramp.
Moto X:
Supermoto:
Supermoto has its origins in the 1970s where ABC’s Wide World of sports was the highest-rated sports show in the United states.
Prior to the 1990s, supermoto bikes, including the precursor motorcycles used in Superbikers, were converted open-class two-stroke motocross or enduro bikes desired for their lightweight and jumping abilities. The motorcycles currently used for Supermoto racing are predominantly single-cylinder 4 stroke powered dirtbikes with 17″ or 16.5″ wheels. The 17″ rims allow the use of up to 5.5″ wide superbike road racing slicks.
