Posts Tagged ‘world champion’

Living legend Hermann Maier, one of Alpine skiing’s greatest, yesterday announced his retirement from competitive racing. Maier, who picked up the nickname ‘The Herminator’  won four overall World Cup titles – 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2004, two Olympic gold medals at the Nagano Olympics in 1998,  three World Championship titles – 1999 x 2 and 2005  and a total of 54 races on the World Cup circuit.

His racing career nearly ended following a motorcycle accident in August 2001 when he collided with a car on his way home from a summer training session in Austria. Doctors nearly amputated his lower leg, but instead Maier underwent massive reconstructive surgery. Most believed his racing career was over when he had to sit out the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

His first full season back was 2004 when he reclaimed both the Super-G and overall titles, a feat widely seen as one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. In 2004, Hermann Maier received the Laureus World Sports Award for the “Comeback of the Year” and it was at this time that he picked up his nickname for his indestructible nature.

Hermann Maier in action.

Maier had victories again in the World Cup series in 2005 and 2009 but after surgery  on his right knee in the offseason he has decided to hang up his boots.

“I am healthy now and that’s the way I want to live on,” Maier said, fighting back tears at a news conference. “I wanted to become fit once more and I’ve accomplished that now.”

We are pleased to bring you this video from petrduchac of Maier in action at Kitzbühel in Austria which could be considered his own back yard for it is Maier who holds the best results ever recorded at Kitzbühel from the Super-G races, with 5 victories and 2 seconds in the 7 times that he competed there – an extreme performance in this extreme sport – without precedent – deserving respect.

The current British champion Kirsty Jones from Carmarthenshire in Wales has become the Kiteboard Pro World Tour champion after winning the final event at Essaouira in Morocco, as reported by BBC Wales.

The professional kitesurfer made a name for herself in 2002 as the first person to kitesurf across the Irish Sea.

Speaking after winning the title on Sunday, she said: “‘It’s been an amazing year for me doing the KPWT world tour.

“Last year I missed out on the title by a small margin and this year I was determined to become world champion – this is my dream come true.

“The final in Morocco was by far the toughest for me as I put so much pressure on myself to win this final event.”

The Morocco event was the culmination of the 10th year of the Kiteboard Pro World Tour, which also staged events in France, Portugal and Brazil.

As well as defending her crown in 2009, she plans to organise another long-distance solo kitesurf for charity.

I have included this video of Kirsty kite boarding from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to Tarfaya, a town on the southern coast of Morocco in May 2006 – the distance travelled was 140 miles which in itself was a record. Thanks renoooprod for the video

Here are some suggestions on what kit to purchase if you are getting into kite surfing. We would like to emphasize that you should rent or hire the kit for as long as possible before launching into what can soon add up to significant expenditure. Make sure that you are committed to the sport and the initial enthusiasm does not wane. Further you will find that as your competency increases so does your appetite for newer and better equipment. It is therefore better to learn using someone else’s kit – until you have a proper understanding of the exact kite and board that will suit your level of skill.

I’ve also included a video by genocide696 of world champion Aaron Hadlow strutting his stuff on a Flexifoil – which just goes to show that even world champions take a few tumbles in getting to be a world champion. Thanks also go to Dan Doubleday of 2Articles.com for the article on what kit to buy.

You have done a kite surfing course or two and understand the danger. You have been out on a few day trip by yourself and rented the equipment. Now it’s time to sort yourself out with your own gear but with the initial high cost you want to break it down into affordable chunks, so how should you buy your kite surfing gear?

Any purchase you make should first be selected on safety and quality. Failure of any kite surfing gear while racing across the sea at high speeds is never what you want. The order of gear listed here is only a suggestion in which you should purchase the stuff you need. Obviously getting the lot at one time could save you money, by asking for a discount in the store, but you should also consider looking at used gear. Sometimes you could save a large amount of cash on an item and the saving opens up your choice on another item.

The first item you should look for is a Wet suit. You can spend long periods of time in the water sorting out your lines or you may lose your kite and have to either swim to shore or to the kite both of which may be a long way off. A wetsuit not only provides add thermal protection in can also provide extra buoyancy. When looking for your wetsuit also look about for some water shoes for added comfort on cold days.

Most kite surfers now wear crash helmets when trying out new locations or stunts. If you are unsure of what is exactly below the water surface this piece of equipment could save your life. If you are surfing close to rocks, same thing and if you are trying out something you have never done before there is always a possibility your board will attack you.

Depending of your level of skill or even the location your are kite surfing you may want a life jacket to keep you afloat and help while swimming for your kite, or to the shore.

You may want a board-leash in your purchasing list as this is the only thing that keeps your board near you should you fall off it. This will obviously save you watching your board sail off into the sunset while you sit on the beach! HOWEVER, and it’s a big however, a boardleash, although thought useful by some in the early days of learning, is also a potential hazard and you might think carefully about this one. Think about it: you have an extremely strong kite above your head powering along in the wind, and if you fall off, your board will submarine – bury its head underwater – and so your kite power goes up. .. and you’re stuck in the middle. The most likely thing to happen is that the board will barrel out of the water like a loaded spring aimed directly at some part of your anatomy. And it will hurt…

Better to teach yourself body dragging very early on. In fact learn to body drag before you need to use the skill…

Some people use a leash whilst they are setting themselves up but release it the moment their kite is in the air. But if you insist on a board leash then best you invest in a helmet and an impact vest without delay!

And on to the next requirement…

All kites should have a safety release system attached, never buy a kite with a working safety release system. This is a strap that’s attached around your wrist and to the control bar. A safety release can be 2 or 4 line and will disable the kite when you stop holding the control bar. The systems have a safety leash attaching to your left wrist (or harness) to allow you to retrieve the control bar.

Once you have all the safety gear you can focus on the big stuff: a kite and board.

Your choice in what kite to buy will not be an easy one and you should research it well. You will want a kite that you can launch, or re-launch, from the water. A kite that can provide enough lift to allow you to perform jumps and stunts and also good power control. Inflatable kites, single skin framed kites and ram air foil kites can all be launched from within the water, but offer different performance and power controls. There will be kites more suitable for the beginner and offer more safety and control features than others and their will be kites for the professional competition kite surfers that know how to get every last ounce of energy of them. Your choice in kite is not one you should rush into. Talk with your instructor and some other Kite surfers before choosing yours.

Your final piece of kite surfing gear is the board. Similar to the kite you should do some research about the best board for you, but unlike the kites most boards have similar features. They should be rigid and have a harness for your feet to keep the board under you! The board leash will has been recommended above.

Kite surfing is an extreme sport that requires professional training and good equipment for your safety. Never rush into a purchase and always research the various makes and models available to you. The longer you leave buying kite surfing gear the more chance you may have of trying out different systems before you buy them.

BMX, is the newest Olympic sport. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2003 to approve its debut in the 2008 Games this August.
With the Olympic tag comes increased stakes, visibility, and – those in the sport hope – legitimacy.
“We’ve seen the sport elevate to the highest form of racing,” said Mike King, USA cycling’s director of BMX programs. “I hope the Olympics can do for BMX what it did for snowboarding. It’s what the sport needs to grow.”
The Games continue to venture into newfangled, extreme sports to attract a younger audience. The Olympic form of BMX is called supercross. The track in Beijing features a two-story drop at the starting hill, and riders reach speeds of 40 mph at the bottom. Along the dirt track are banked turns, jumps that can launch riders 40 feet through the air and rhythm sections.As many as eight riders at a time go through several heats, or motos, on bikes with 20-inch wheels. Races are one-lap sprints, which rarely last
more than 40 seconds.
The three times world BMX champion Kyle Bennett from Conroe, Texas said “I would say supercross tracks are extreme, I definitely get scared. But you adapt.”