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Культурно-оздоровительные мероприятия, выполнять трюки,
вызывающий восхищение, соревнования, парашютный спорт, оборудование,
опасный, по всему миру.
Going to Extremes
John Hancock reports on the history of some of your favorite extreme sports.
Whether it’s a jaw-dropping move on a skateboard or the raw speed of BMX
there is no doubt that extreme sports have taken off in a big way over the last
twenty-five years. Some need snow, some need wheels but they all share an
element of danger, usually combined with acrobatic stunts.
ESPN, the American TV sports network, organized the first Extreme Games
(now the X Games) in 1995 and coined the phrase ‘extreme sports’. This is partly
because they are often considered to be different from older, established sports.
However, some older, more traditional sports, such as freestyle skiing, skydiving,
surfing and water skiing, are also sometimes considered extreme sports.
Extreme sports have also been characterized as ‘alternative sports’. Several
of the sports that fall into this category have also been known as ‘outlaw sports’
because they were banned in many areas for being too dangerous. Also, many of
the athletes have adopted alternative fashions and have seen themselves as outside
the usual sporting world.
Many extreme sports are in fact new versions of older sports, often made
possible by technological changes or improvements in equipment. For example,
BMX racing and mountain biking are both based on cycling. In-line skating is a
form of roller-skating.
For the most part, extreme sports originated as recreational activities for the
individuals, but often in a group context. As they have become competitive,
extreme sports have been at least partly absorbed into the mainstream, although
snowboarding is still the only extreme sport to have become an Olympic event.
One of the most spectacular extreme sports is BMX. There are two main
forms, BMX racing, which takes place on a dirt track of about 300 to 400
meters with a series of jumps, and freestyle BMX, involving stunts and
tricks. The sport has come a long way since a group of kids first started organizing
races at Palms Park, Santa Monica, California, back in 1969. Fans of motocross,
but too young to ride motorbikes, they named their sport ‘pedal cross’. They
couldn’t have known what they were starting. Races quickly got bigger and the
sport became known as BMX, which stands for ‘bicycle motocross’. The first
American national championship was held in 1974 and the first magazine devoted
to the sport appeared the same year. It went from strength to strength throughout
the eighties and nineties and today there are over 50 national BMX organizations
round the world.
Another popular extreme sport is in-line skating, with around 30 million
skaters worldwide. In-line skates are generally assumed to be very new and
modern, but actually all roller skates were in-line from the first known pair in 1716
until 1863. It was then that James Plimpton invented a skate with for wheels in a
rectangular arrangement. In 1966, the original in-line skates returned, but it wasn’t
until 1980 that two ice hockey-playing brothers, Scott and Brennan Olson of
Minneapolis, realized that in-line skates could be used for training and practice
when there was no ice. They started to make their own skates, selling them to
friends, and eventually set up their own company, Rollerblade, to market them.
They were so successful that in-line skates are often known simply as
‘Rollerblades’.
As competitive sport, in-line skating is actually several sports. There are inline
versions of the traditional roller skating events: speed skating, artistic (figure)
skating, and roller hockey. However, the best-known and most popular of the
competitive sports is aggressive in-line skating, also known as ‘aggro’. Athletes
would show off their skills for the people watching to copy. There are two events,
street and vert (short for vertical). In street competitions, skaters perform tricks
while jumping over boxes, ramps, and rails, while in vert they do a 60-second
routine of tricks and stunts in a half-pipe, like that used in skateboarding and
snowboarding.
It seems certain extreme sports will continue to grow in popularity and bring
even more people. So, what are you waiting for? Go to extremes!

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