APPOINTMENT IN X GAMES BARCELONA WITH: Travis Pastrana

Known for his madness, he always risks his life to test the hardest trick. Idol inside and outside circuits

Surely he knows neither fear nor risk. But what is certain is that for the rest of humans, what Travis Pastrana makes is crazy. The American has been a legend of the extreme sports since few time ago, not only by the large number of medals and championships he has achieved throughout his career, up to 11 golds at X Games, but also for his ability to leave spectators with no breath because of his constant innovation and staging the most amazing and risky stunts a rider can land.

Born October 8, 1983 in Annapolis, Pastrana remember why he decided extreme sports. "My family owned a construction company and I was always driving machines around my house and jumping whatever I could. I had a go-Kart at 2 years old, I rolled my first car at 9 years old". That’s how began the career of a driver who turned pro in 1999 at the age of 16 after achieving junior titles during his childhood.

But apart from his professional career, if there is something this rider stands out for is precisely because of his boldness and his constant desire to make what seems impossible. "I'm so stupid and brave at the same time to try to do everything that people say is a temerity," says Pastrana, who has taken the world of extreme sports aback landing a water jump with his bike, a backflip with a tricycle, jumping his motorcycle into the Grand Canyon, landing a double backflip on his Suzuki RM 250 or jumping from an airplane without a parachute. However, his daring challenges have jeopardized his health to the point of finding himself between life and death: he has been twice in a coma, has broken several ribs, wrists, ankles, and back warm. "There are doctors all over the country that have me in their database", jokes the athlete.

When asked about his stunts and feelings once he is successful, Pastrana noted that "the craziest stunt I have ever done is something that I was unprepared for " and that "it is certainly something cool to see that you've done something no one has done before. And it is so cool because records are always changing and evolving to get bigger and scarier". Known therefore for this endless madness, his image has been the inspiration for the creation of video games and dolls. He is also the star in a television show called 'Travis TV', and last but not least, there is a program, Nitrus Circus, that emits videos of his exploits. The American joined the MTV program with the intention to show that MotoCross is not everything for him. Pastrana and the rest of people do all kinds of crazy things, like jumping 20 meters between two buildings at a height of 60 meters.

Precisely in an event that took place on June 5, in Las Vegas in 2011, Nitrus Circus team made all kind of stunts, the most notably a synchronized double backflip. And as if that was not enough, Travis Pastrana also used the live event to propose to his girlfriend, Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, gold medalist at the X Games. But the human profile of this great athlete goes beyond the acrobatics. Pastrana, aside from competing at the highest level in every sport he plays, spends his free time with friends or riding his bike, getting away from everything, the crowds and the people.

We'll see what he offers in Foz de Iguaçu X Games in a week time, but it is clear that the American lives for the competition. "I'm addicted to competition, it's about winning friends and do better than them. That's very funny. It is a friendly rivalry sometimes, and other times is just rivalry, but it is very good". At 29 years old, he’s got plenty of life. "When I was 21, I remember a 60 year old smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer, and winning everything. And I thought ... this is what I want to be and I think racing and driving is a sport I can enjoy for a long time".

And finally, when asked about riders who have marked him, he does not forget Edgar Torronteras, whom he considers a true genius and who is also known for being a bold, daring and risky rider in his pirouettes. "He is amazing! When I was growing up and about 12 or 13 years old, we were first and second in my first Freestyle competition. He was the guy I aspired to be. He never acted for the judges, he did it for the crowd and for himself". A Torronteras who will be the perfect host for Travis Pastrana on 16 and 19 May when the U.S. fight in X Games Barcelona to win the gold medal of RallyCross. Travis Pastrana, the man without fear.