By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
I think Travis Pastrana is crazy. Rumors are swirling that Pastrana wants to do a Triple Backflip at this year’s X Games in Los Angeles.
The Triple Backflip has never been completed in competition before. But when is enough when these action sports athletes are putting their bodies – and sometimes their lives – on the line?
That’s the problem, because they don’t know when to stop. These action sports athletes always want to attempt new and exciting thrills for the fans.
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But the fans don’t see the toll that it takes on their bodies – or their lives. These athletes go out to perform, but sometimes, they come up short.
And when they come up short, sometimes they could fight back, but other times, it takes their lives. A few weeks ago, Jeff “Ox” Kargola passed away after sustaining a head injury and internal bleeding on the second day of the Desert Assassins’ Rip to the Tip motocross event in Baja, California.
He competed in the Moto X event for the X Games from 2001 to 2010. Now, he can’t compete anymore.
A little more than two years ago, Kargola lost his friend in Mexico. Jeremy Lusk was severely injured on February 9th, 2009 after attempting to try a “Heart Attack Indian Air Backflip.”
He attempted this trick in a freestyle motocross competition, then passed away the following day.
It’s sad to say that the greatest X Games competitor might kill his self trying to attempt this latest feat. He was lucky when he completed the Double Backflip in 2006 and in 2010, but this is not the Double Backflip.
There’s more risk involved. A risk that might be too risky for even him to pull off.
Nobody has even pulled off a Triple Backflip in competition. It as never been attempted.
He has reportedly been practicing this stunt at his house in Maryland. He is willing to take the risk that many aren’t.
That’s why he was the first to attempt a Double Backflip. He pulled off the first Double Backflip in X Games competition in 2006.
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He received a score of 98.60 for the Double Backflip. It is still the highest score in the best trick competition in X Games history.
Many people would think that Pastrana would be done with the Double Backflip after doing it once. But he was not.
Pastrana completed another Double Backflip at last year’s X Games in the Moto X Freestyle competition. It was the first Double Backflip done in the X Games Moto X Freestyle competition.
He was 2-0 on the Double Backflip. But time will determine if he makes it through this one, too.
But if he’s seriously injured, he may not be able to recover from it. Pastrana has put his body through pounding after pounding in order to still compete.
His medical records are pages long. Some people would have given up after some of his injuries, but there’s a drive in Pastrana to keep going.
He has dislocated his spine, while tearing the ACL, PCL, LCL, and MCL in his left knee. He has had nine surgeries on his left knee and an additional six surgeries on his right knee.
He also tore his bucket handle meniscus, while breaking his tibia and fibula. He had surgery on his left wrist twice and left thumb once.
He had two back surgeries and surgery on his right elbow. He also had surgery on his shoulder, which he had to get metal inserted into his body.
The lone surgery that he had to get metal inserted into his body. These injuries were all from Pastrana performing.
He also mentioned to me in November 2010 that he has a bulging disk in his back. But these injuries do not compare to his first injury while competing at an FMX competition.
At 14 years old, he separated his spine from his pelvis. He was in a wheelchair for three months.
He is reportedly only one of three people in the United States to have ever lived through such an injury. Yet, he’s still going.
But there’s a time where he must walk away from all these pursuits in order to live the rest of his life . . . Or he’s going to be living in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
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