The most popular extreme sports. Cliff jumping

It seems to many that polo on horseback, a sport of aristocrats, has long been outdated. The role of this occupation is only a rare mention in the news about the pastime of the English nobility, and a recognizable logo on the shirts of the same name from Ralph Lauren.

However, many will be surprised by the fact that this is not so, and the game, which was part of the Olympics program at the beginning of the 20th century, is alive and developing, but only in its modern version.

Polo has always been played not only on horses, but also on bicycles, as well as camels and elephants (just imagine the size of the club in this case!).

But today the most viable version of the game turned out to be segways - two-wheeled electric scooters. This mode of transport is very popular in the United States, one of the founders of Apple, Steve Wozniak, rides on it, and Victor Miller, the author of the script for the movie "Friday the 13th", was noticed in love with segways.

The advantage of segways is their small size - they are half the size of a bicycle. It is worth noting the ease of control - just lean in the right direction and the scooter turns where necessary.

You can ride a Segway on any flat surface. As a result, this type of transport has become very convenient for polo, completely replacing the horse.

True, the rules of the game are not very consistent with the traditions of real polo. The goal, however, remains the same. Players are divided into two teams and must score as many goals as possible with their hammers in the allotted time with their hammers.

The main pleasure of polo on a Segway is that an electric device, in principle, cannot accelerate faster than 20 km / h, as a result, it is impossible to get ahead of a competitor due to superiority in speed.

In such a game, maneuverability comes to the fore, the ability to control your body and transport and perform semi-acrobatic tricks with a stick in your hands. At the same time, real players must have excellent vestibular apparatus.

Parkour.

Parkour is often referred to as the art of moving and overcoming various obstacles. In this case, the word "art" is absolutely appropriate here. Parkour can hardly be considered a sport, because there is no element of competition. However, this exercise is not a simple exercise - it is too difficult.

The meaning of this lesson is to navigate through an obstacle course that has not been previously agreed upon. It can be stairs and walls, pillars and other elements of urban architecture.

Parkour lovers, or tracers, in the course of their movement can run up a sheer wall, jump from the roof of one house to another at a considerable height, and even jump into garbage containers.

The best element of parkour is a blind jump, when the tracer does not see in advance the point of his landing. It is important that the tricks performed are not done for the show.

The main ideologist of modern parkour, the Frenchman David Belle, fundamentally denies somersaults, handstands and other spectacular tricks from the arsenal of stuntmen that are performed unnecessarily.

The main principle of parkour is that you cannot move backwards. Usually people come to parkour without finding a worthy sport for themselves, but over time it turns out that jumps and runs are based on their own philosophy.

It would seem that the tracer simply performs a set of elements necessary for the best passage of the track. In fact, he creates by improvising in his movement.

The first amateur videos of parkour appeared in the 90s, where David Belle jumped from a height of ten meters, making a soft landing due to a shock-absorbing somersault.

The Frenchman showed how you can slide on one leg along the railing and pull yourself up on one arm. Cassettes were very popular - people did not so much look at the wonders of dexterity as they learned freedom.

Today, parkour video has become an integral part of modern culture. The British BBC even filmed documentary"Jump London", in which real tracers on their hands moved along the boom of a huge crane and jumped from the masts of a warship to its deck.

A few years later, cult director Luc Besson created the film "Yamakashi", which greatly promoted parkour's fame in the world. In the film, a gang of tracers saved the boy's life, simultaneously conquering the skyscrapers of Paris.

Later, the film "13th district" appeared, where a lot of attention is also paid to parkour. The significance of this sport was also manifested in the appearance of the legendary Sebastien Foucan in the James Bond movie "Casino Royale".

Such popularization inevitably led to the worldwide spread of parkour. Initially, the English and French teams - Parkour Generations, Urban Free Flow and Majestic Force - were considered the most famous and skillful.

But today, Russian teams, for example, ParkourSochi and RFA, are among the influential teams. But David Bell himself opposes the excessive commercialization of his offspring and does not want to create hype and PR around him.

He believes that this occupation does not require explanation, only practice is important here. That is why Belle refused to star in the Hollywood "Spiderman". Although David dreamed of wearing a Spider-Man costume as a child, now he dreams of performing under his own name.

Although today parkour, as a sport, comes with an accompanying philosophy, it is still great fun, especially for those who prefer to unload their head from complex thoughts.

Tracers go out into the street and just run, then posting more and more videos on YouTube about their jumps, flights and falls. Parkour is an ingenuous occupation that does not at all pretend to become the meaning of life for someone. However, sometimes he succeeds.

Paragliding.

This sport is also called paragliding. This form of flight is the simplest of all available to man. Indeed, in this case, you just need to find a large hill, run up and jump from it.

In flight, you should control only your own body and parachute wing. Flying due to ascending air currents can elevate an athlete to an impressive height.

The world record was 4526 meters above sea level. Slipping from such streams, you can go down in free fall, enjoying the amazing view from above.

For themselves, paragliders have chosen the most picturesque places, usually mountains by the sea. That is why all the main records of this sport are set against the backdrop of amazing natural landscapes.

So, Neville Oulette was able to fly 502 kilometers in a straight line over the canyons, lakes and diamond mines of South Africa. Rafael Saladini was able to soar over the Amazon rainforest by jumping from a 500-meter waterfall.

Paragliding is also very affordable. All ammunition for the flight can easily fit in a small backpack that can be placed either in the trunk of a car, or carried as hand luggage on an airplane, or simply hoisted on your shoulders.

Paragliding could well become an excellent sport for singles, because it is here that a person can be left alone for a long time. However, its accessibility has made entertainment an object of collective interest.

Snowboarding.

The world of sports is full of stories of how an unknown contender unexpectedly became a champion, but with a whole sport this is rarely the case. The story of the development and popularization of snowboarding, which happened in the second half of the 20th century, became the personification of such a story of "Cinderella".

Today, this extreme sport has become the most popular and one of the most spectacular. Like any success story, it has its own legend.

Once an engineer from Michigan Sherman Poppen made one pair of skis, more maneuverable and stable. The skier's wife nicknamed this design "snurfer" as a derivative of "snow" and "surfer".

She probably would not be surprised to know that such a term would not take root among the masses. But the news that her husband would be able to sell a million of these boards over the next ten years would certainly have shocked the woman.

As a result the new kind sport has become the most growing not only in the US, but throughout the world. If in 1965 only 3 people knew about snowboarding, then by the beginning of the third millennium, 7 million people were already engaged in it.

According to Americans, all great minds think alike. In the case of the invention of snowboarding, this is exactly what happened. Ideas for using and improving the new sport came to the minds of several entrepreneurs at the same time, which gave rise to subsequent popularity.

So, surfer Dimitry Milovich suggested descending from the snowy hills on a board that only remotely resembled a surf, but at the same time had a special edging.

Former skier Jake Burton designed the leg bindings and many more improvements. Skater Tom Sims managed to adapt some tricks for snowboarding, and architect Mark Anolik built the world's first half-pipe near Lake Tahoe - a U-shaped ramp for skiing.

The collective efforts of a few people allowed the new sport to develop rapidly. But to understand the essence of snowboarding, you need to plunge into the world of ski-snowboard confrontation.

In the late 70s, young and uninhibited snowboarders filled the snowy slopes, which caused a backlash from hardened skiers. There was even a whole aesthetic conflict, because the new athletes wore long hair, their clothes were casually baggy and their riding style was quite aggressive.

Such a picture did not fit in with the image of a family or bohemian holiday on ski resort. So it turned out that snowboarders rode together with skiers on the same slope only in 1982, while the prestigious American resort of Aspen generally forbade athletes with boards to appear on their territories until 2001.

But the popularity of snowboarding changed everything - already in 2002, the owners of Aspen signed a seven-year contract with ESPN to host the Winter Extreme Games here.

Now the conflict is left to burn out only in the minds of the most conservative skiers, and Burton Snowboards, founded by the same Jake Burton, even offers $ 5,000 as entertainment to every snowboarder who demonstrates a video of driving on the slopes of the most stubborn ski resorts.

Although not easy, the status of a professional sport has also come to snowboarding. After all, the fun of the Americans took root in Europe only in the 80s, and until that moment there was no point in holding competitions between athletes from different continents - the Americans were far ahead.

But the rapid pace of development of this sport improved the results of Europeans, as a result, in 1994, snowboarding made its debut at the Winter Olympics. However, 4 years later, at the competitions in Nagano, there was almost a step back - Canadian Ross Rebagliatti, who won gold in slalom, was convicted of using marijuana.

The legend about how Ross simply inhaled a cloud of smoke at some party helped. However, this story still delineated the boundary between extreme and traditional sports. But only thanks to the efforts of Shaun White, super-athlete and two-time Olympic champion, there was a revision of attitudes towards snowboarding.

Nicknamed "Flying Tomato", Sean was able to make snowboarders respect not only for their fearlessness and relaxation, but also for their rare performance, which distinguishes a professional from an amateur.

Today snowboarding provides more opportunities than ever before. After all, in this way you can go through social identification, or you can pave the way to big-time sports.

One wheel hockey.

Traditional ice hockey is a very serious game. Let it be a show anyway, but real men come to the site, so there is simply no place for humor here.

But there were lovers to turn such a game full of testosterone into a circus. All you have to do is take the uniforms off the hockey players and put them on unicycles.

In this version of hockey, there are no forwards and offsides, power moves are prohibited here, as well as fights. However, it does not lose anything in entertainment, because it is so interesting to see how players can manage with a wheel equipped with only a saddle and two pedals.

As a result, such movements become so interesting that even the point of watching the ball disappears. In hockey on the wheel, it is even more important to be able to manage the vehicle than to wield a stick on the parquet.

Yes, and a skillful turn will cause applause no less than a successful throw. As a result, one-wheel hockey also wins in performance, even if there are not 5, but only 4 field players on the court.

After all, the goalkeeper is not given the usual heavy ammunition - he, like everyone else, rides on a wheel, but only along the goal line. In his hands he has an ordinary stick, without a trap, which increases the chances of players for a goal.

There can be no talk of any intelligible tactics. After all leading role they play the ability to stand on the wheel, which is impossible in one particular place. The game loses any linearity of development, but it acquires a fair amount of positive.

Hockey has never been so much fun. Feeling it yourself is quite easy - you need to buy or rent a unicycle, find a club that was forgotten and buy tennis ball.

Kitesurfing.

Of all the sports that arose at the junction of water and air, this one is perhaps the most difficult. It requires a kite, a surfer board, wind and waves to do it.

But only here in the air is a more professional device called a kite. As a result of his movement, the kitesurfer can not only glide through the waves, but also take off into the sky.

Here, not only the beauty of the shown trick is appreciated, but also the range of the jump from the wave. Kitesurfing seems to be a fairly modern extreme pastime, as kites were commonly used for a different purpose.

However, in fact, something similar was practiced in China in the distant XIII century. There, the boats glided over the waves thanks to the sails tied to them with ropes - in fact, the same kites.

Today, the board-kite combination has undergone certain technical changes. The real breakthrough for kitesurfing was the arrival of advertisers who liked the idea of ​​placing their advertising slogans on kites.

Over the past 20-30 years, the number of brave young people ready to challenge the wind and waves has increased twenty-fold. Today, kitesurfers can be seen not only in the warm waters of Hawaii, Florida and California, but all over the world, including the Gulf of Finland.

Some of the tricks that athletes demonstrate here come from skateboarding (spinning, grabbing, and others). Nothing prevents you from mastering them on land.

True, on the water the trick will become noticeably more complicated, because the base will be rather unsteady, and the kite will pull the board with strong jerks. As a result, even a simple jump with a landing can seem like a difficult test.

However, the basics of kitesurfing can be learned quite quickly, in 2-3 weeks. After that, it remains only to rush towards the records. For example, to make a French ride 200 kilometers long along the Cote d'Azur with an average speed of 38 km/h.

The absolute speed record in this sport is about 90 km / h, kitesurfers are especially proud of this milestone - previously only boats and windsurfers could move so fast.

Bungee jumping.

A person tried for a long time to feel the feeling of flight, with maximum impunity at the same time. In the end, bungee jumping appeared, which is a jump from a height on an elastic cable.

Rocks, towers and bridges can now be used for the unique feeling of seconds of free fall - all those objects that previously served only as vantage points. Today, such a prospect attracts them no less than just a beautiful view.

It all started in the late 80s. when several brave Englishmen began to tie themselves with elastic and reliable harnesses to various hills and jump down. Both balloons and cranes were suitable for them, not to mention bridges.

Only 2-3 seconds lasted adrenaline pleasure from the feeling of free fall, then the rope pulled the athlete up, releasing then back. The police immediately considered such an activity unsafe, arresting its organizers.

However, soon appeared on the screens american show"It's Impossible", which showed how three people jumped from a height of 200 meters from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Naturally, they were tied with ropes, but after that bungee jumping itself was recognized as legal entertainment. And why was it banned? After all, for a safe jump from any height, it took a little.

It was necessary to calculate the overload force during depreciation and check the reliability of the rope fastenings. Today, anyone, even without serious astronaut training, can get up to 6 seconds of free fall, while developing a speed of up to 100 km / h and slowly braking.

With the relative safety of such a sport, the main interest for the amateur will be to find the most picturesque site in order to soon dive head first from there. Most often it is customary to jump from bridges. The fact is that the water below is not as scary as just stones or earth.

And on low towers, in general, you can arrange partial dipping into a pond, which will add even more extreme. Everyone chooses the difficulty of the jump for himself. It can be super extreme, like from the Niuk cable bridge in the Alps, located at a height of 193 meters, or it can be quite fearless even for a beginner, like from the Moscow viaduct near the Yaroslavl highway or not far from the Volen ski resort near Moscow.

In general, there are no barriers for jumpers to jump. It can be ski jumps and medieval castles, rocky cliffs and TV towers, high bridges and even waterfalls.

The most daring bungee jump is held in China by Australian AJ Hackett. A well-known sports activist jumped off the Macau TV tower from a height of 233 meters.

You can also effectively jump off the Swiss Vercasca dam, 220 meters high. This stunt even made it into the Bond series when a super spy jumped from a dam, which, according to the scenario, is actually located in Russia.

But the most spectacular jumps are carried out by the bungee innovator. The Frenchman Thierry Devaux, who improved the harness attachment so that he could also perform tricks in flight - somersaults, backbends and turns.

Devo became famous for his series of six jumps from the Eiffel Tower, one of which was made in pink tights. Thierry also built a personal bridge specifically for his hobbies.

However, the tradition of building personal structures for jumping is not new, it all started with the same AJ Hackett, who built a whole bungee tower in Australia, after which he equipped a place for fans like him on the beautiful Kawarau Bridge in New Zealand.

Today, such places appear everywhere, so to make a bold jump upside down does not require flying to the other side of the world.

Rollerblading.

For a long time, there was a harmless alternative to winter skating - roller skates. With development extreme sports roller skates have become a real tool for performing crazy tricks that are in no way inferior to the tricks of BMX or skateboarding.

The current aggressive skating is called rollerblading. People for such an activity can be found on the street or in a modern roller park. It is there that there is a special ramp - a halfpipe, which looks like a cut half pipe.

In such a device, rollers train their rotations, jumps and grabs - spins, flips and hornbeams. The same elements are present in skateboarding and snowboarding. In this sport, skating is generally completely based on acrobatics, taking into account knowledge of the principles of mechanics.

This is necessary, for example, to perform a wall flip, a complex and beautiful jump with repulsion from the wall and further rotation by 360 degrees.

Today, roller parks are being built everywhere, and getting there is not difficult. Only now you have to compete with skaters, who are also not averse to using the design for their workouts. Street skating is generally more prone to improvisation. Here, acrobatic elements are largely performed in arbitrary conditions.

Sliding is performed on the railing, through the road fence you can perform a flip with a grab, and after accelerating, try to jump onto the ramp along the sidewalk.

A special success for a street roller will be getting into an empty car park, where there will be a lot of curbs, railings and stairs. Although it is believed that a real roller should be able to turn any part of the city into a testing ground for itself.

Florentine Football.

When football starts to be played without rules, it only adds to its spectacle. The most ancient varieties of this game are exactly the same.

Calcio Fiorentino, or Florentine football, is saturated with adrenaline, sweat, tears and even blood. Some even believe that this is the most male game in the world, because against its background, both rugby and hockey look rather restrained and subject to rules.

However, there are still some rules. Since the 16th century, a rectangle measuring 100 by 50 meters has been formed on Piazza Santa Croce in the center of Florence, it is covered with sand and two teams of 7 people are let in. The men are by then stripped to the waist and quite furious.

Kicking each other on the head is prohibited, as are vile tricks. Thrown into the crowd soccer ball and see if it will be of interest to anyone during 50 minutes of playing time. Although the name of such fun is associated with football, there is very little of it here.

Much more mixed martial arts in one heap. Yes, and the ball must be thrown into the basket a meter above the ground, which, of course, is most convenient to do with your hands. The score is usually opened only towards the end of the match, until that time the opponents are engaged in finding out who is stronger.

The teams converge literally wall to wall, not letting up until they finish each other well. The spectacle is so popular that the whole city comes to see it. In theory, anyone can participate in such a game, even those who, according to their status, are not supposed to be torn.

So, several centuries ago, according to rumors, the Pope also participated in the fun. Historically, there have been four teams - red, white, blue and green. They represented 4 historic city blocks. There was a period when the game exceeded the norms of cruelty, the teams began to recruit boxers and wrestlers, there were also enough former criminals.

As a result, the game became much more bloodthirsty - there were numerous fractures of limbs, and loss of consciousness. All this simply scared the audience away. Thus, the only rule change in the history of the game came to Florentine football, which stopped the beatings.

Violence has gone out of sport for the sake of violence, and to make the matches look like they should, a grandiose parade is held in front of them. Every third week of June, participants don their traditional costumes as they pass in front of the townspeople and tourists. Although it is almost impossible to take a direct part in the game, it is quite possible to become a close eyewitness to the entire ceremony and the subsequent match.

Racing against a horse.

Once in Wales, a local farmer Gordon Green in a pub heard interesting story about how one man talked about his ability to overtake a horse when running a long distance.

At this point, Green had already become interested in non-traditional sports. So, it was he who became the organizers of the swim in the swamp in fins and with a snorkel. The organization of the competition between man and horse became only a matter of time.

In 1980, the first marathon took place. Man and animal had to overcome 35 kilometers through hilly terrain. Then the horse won with a big advantage, but for England it was not surprising that a one-time fun turned into a tradition and even a sport.

People turned out to be against the total physical superiority of the horse and began to invent various tricks for themselves. So, in 1985, cyclists took part in the competition, one of which lost only a little to the animal. Four years later, devices with wheels were still able to overtake horses.

However, the original idea of ​​the race did not go away, and every year the prize fund for the winner-runner grew and grew. In 2001, a man was the first to finish, but he was a member of a three-man relay team, and the prize remained unplayed. But the historical event did happen, even after a quarter of a century of unsuccessful attempts.

In 2005, lean marathon runner Kyu Lobb was able to overtake a horse by a full two and a half minutes. The brave runner was rewarded with 31,000 pounds. Two years later, the result was repeated by the German Florian Holzinger. Do you think that the victory of a man over a horse is impossible in principle?

Let's make a number of reservations regarding the rules of the competition. 40 people and only 10 horses take part in the marathon. It is clear that animals interfere with each other more than humans. In addition, a person can apply a collective strategy.

Horses are released 15 minutes after the start of people, in addition, animals are often stopped for veterinary checks, which takes them another 5-6 minutes.

As a result, professional marathon runners who are able to maintain a high pace of running over a long distance still have small chances to take the main prize. Prize fund the same is formed from the impressive contributions of riders and much lower for runners.

Thus, almost anyone can take part in the race, although with a high probability the contribution will still remain in the piggy bank, increasing the jackpot and waiting for a hardy winner.

Frisbee.

This hobby is better known to us as the game with a flying saucer. This is a primitive and simple occupation, nevertheless, it was invented for almost a century on the way to the current form.

For shooting exercises, a special disk was used back in the 19th century, and a patent for a flying sports object was registered only in the middle of the 20th century by the American Walter Morrison.

According to legend, the idea of ​​a flying saucer came to a man's mind when he was on a California beach in the late 30s, throwing either a baking dish or a popcorn can with his fiancée Lou. The neighbors liked the flying object so much that they offered 25 cents for it, and Fred realized that business could be made by distributing such things.

During the war, Morrison flew aircraft, which allowed him to study aerodynamics well. Upon returning home, an investor was quickly found, and in 1948 the first model of a "flying saucer" made of plastic was born.

The object got its name because of the craze and interest in UFOs. As befits an invention with a frivolous appearance, the first experience was unsuccessful. The disc was of interest, but it was not enough to bring tangible profits.

Fortunately for the Frisbee, its creator turned out to be a real enthusiast, realizing that this was his life's work. Several years Morrison spent on bringing his invention to a better form.

In 1957, he sold the rights to his invention to the Wham-O company, which gave the discs the name "Frisbee". So the plates were nicknamed by the students, carried away by the new fun. They, in turn, gave such a name, since tin pie trays from the Frisbie Pie Company demonstrated a similar lift.

The surge in interest in the Frisbee made Morrison a millionaire. Wham-O's head of marketing, Ed Headrick, took over from him to promote the fun. Thanks to him, "flying saucers" got the attractive design and aerodynamic characteristics that we are seeing today.

So beach fun gradually became a projectile-participant of a whole scattering of games. Hedrick even managed to found International Association frisbee, and after Ed's death, his ashes were scattered over several commemorative discs and handed over to relatives and friends.

Today, the Frisbee family includes more than a dozen independent games in which a flying disc is the main character. In doing so, a healthy and fun alternative was found to the traditional use, in which the plate is simply tossed from hand to hand.

Yes, you can play disc golf. The clubs here are replaced by hands, and the places of the holes are occupied by baskets, instead of balls, plates are used. The dog frisbee is very popular, in which four-legged pets - dogs - are also connected to the game.

Designers have specially designed models that glow in the dark. In addition, there is a lot of entertainment with Frisbee, which are associated with the phonetic similarity of the particles "fri" and "free" (free) - friski, freestyle, fricket.

But the most perfect type of flying saucer game is the ultimate frisbee. This dynamic and spectacular team game has been around for more than 30 years and has even attracted the attention of the IOC. There are also world championships this species sports.

In Ultimate, which is unusual, there are no judges at all. After all, violations of the rules, including in favor of the opponent, are recorded by the players themselves. The fundamental principle of such an activity is the famous playful spirit, while in this case it is not an abstraction at all.

Zorb.

After a long practice in any sport, there comes a feeling of control over the situation. But there are situations when it is almost impossible to adapt to the surrounding conditions.

This happens, for example, when descending a mountainside inside a huge transparent ball. Such entertainment, zorb, seems to have been specially invented so that extreme impressions always remain such.

Zorb was developed in the late 90s by two young New Zealanders. At that time, means were being developed for moving across the ocean, the idea of ​​​​a large plastic ball appeared, inside of which there was another one with a passenger inside. This idea was a reflection of people's interest in walking on the surface of the water.

The inner ball made it possible for a person to maintain balance inside the zorb, and the outer shell protected from direct contact with the surface. The material for the balls was PVC, while the seams were connected using special electric welding.

It turned out that the zorb is an excellent tool for descending or rolling down hills, including snowy ones, you can also do something like swimming. Usually, moving inside a zorb is compared to being inside a washing machine, the passenger can feel what the laundry in a spinning drum could feel.

Since the inner shell does not rotate as fast as the outer shell, a person makes a complete revolution inside the ball in 9 meters of travel.

The speed of the zorb directly depends on both the movements of the passenger and the slope, and even on the method of fastening. But be that as it may, the ball will not be able to accelerate faster than 50 km / h, which is comparable to a bicycle downhill. Only the risk in this case is much less.

Underwater rugby.

Ball games have an exciting dynamic. However, only in such a sport can players move freely in three dimensions. Underwater rugby is ultimately a highly organized but hustle in a ball pool.

There is salt water inside the ball, a strong throw sends it only 3 meters and according to the rules it cannot appear on the surface. Players wear fins with a mask or goggles, and their goal is to throw the ball into a hole with a diameter of 40 centimeters.

Perhaps the most healthy nation in Europe, the Germans, became the author of underwater entertainment. The first kind of game resembled volleyball, there was a net inside the pool. But then the players were finally identified under the water. In this sport, players have to develop several skills in order to perform successfully.

You need to be able to move quickly and maneuver underwater, to fight for the ball be strong and be able to hold your breath for a long time. You also need to get used to difficult tactics, which, in addition to the usual back and forth, left and right, also involves moving up and down. In underwater rugby, as in regular rugby, the players are clearly divided according to their roles.

In this variation, team roles can be shared between men and women. If some push the opponent through with brute force and make breakthroughs at depth, then others engage in blocking and fight closer to the surface.

It should be noted that this kind of sport is quite tiring and exhausting, so in addition to 6 base players, there are the same number of substitutes.

Although it is not easy to organize underwater rugby, it is easy to start playing it with the necessary equipment. Moreover, each of us in our youth tried to take the ball in the water from a friend, using some kind of wrestling technique.

Racing 24 Hours of Le Mans.

This auto race is not only the most popular and prestigious endurance race on the planet, it is also the oldest. Start and finish are exactly one day apart, while the word survival for Le Mans is absolutely applicable here - the famous track has already become the site of the death of 21 riders.

However, such extreme conditions do not scare off many who want to participate in the race for the past 90 years. There is even an opinion that Formula 1 is the face of motorsport, but the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the heart of this sport.

Initially, this race was an annual event specially designed for leading manufacturers. If in other types of auto racing speed was valued, then in Le Mans the ability to evenly distribute this parameter comes to the fore, as well as own forces for the whole day.

Here, the favorites were traditionally considered not the fastest cars, but the most reliable (with optimal fuel consumption at the same time). Accordingly, success in this race significantly influenced the interest in successful car brands on the part of the townsfolk.

The Le Mans de la Sarthe circuit includes, in addition to purpose-built sections, public roads. The first start took place in 1923, when the length of the circle in the race was more than 17 kilometers.

A number of improvements, undertaken mainly for safety reasons, have reduced the circle to the current 13.63 km. The most famous section of the track is the long Mulsand straight. In the 80s, individual cars accelerated here up to 400 km/h. However, in the next decade, additional turns were arranged here to cool the ardor of the fastest.

Safety concerns are much more acute for race organizers than for others. Moreover, it was here that the biggest disaster in the history of motorsport happened. In 1955, the Mercedes of the Frenchman Pierre Levezh drove into the stands.

The burning debris set a fire there, resulting in the death of not only the rider, but also 82 spectators. This led to a ban on motorsport in Switzerland, and Mercedes retired from racing for a long 30 years. Levezh had already become famous even before that.

After he fell asleep at the 23rd hour of the race two years earlier, a rule appeared according to which the car could enter two drivers. In the late 80s, their number increased to 3 people, and the time of continuous driving by one rider was reduced to 4 hours.

Today, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race is the most difficult event that complies with the numerous rules and laws of both the state and the race. Pilots are forced here to take into account changes in the weather, as well as the presence on the track of cars of various classes and categories (now there are four of them), which differ in speed and driving style.

The best observance of all the nuances of the race is traditionally given to the Germans. The largest number of victories - 16, "Porsche", and the last 10 years have passed under the sign of the total superiority of "Audi".

The maximum distance of 5335 km was covered here by Porsche pilots in 1971, while average speed amounted to 222.2 km / h. It should be noted that overcoming the mark of 200 km / h is a common thing here, despite the two dozen pit stops required for changing drivers, refueling, minor repairs and changing tires.

For the entire time of the races, which were prevented only by the Second World War, "24 Hours of Le Mans" acquired many traditions. The most important - a shower of champagne over the winner, went far beyond the limits of this competition.

Films were made about this race, Steve McQueen starred in the most famous, video games were written and comics were drawn. In 2010, the most stellar race in history was supposed to take place, but the joint application of the legend of Formula 1 Jean Alesi and the king of motorcycle racing Valentino Rossi did not pass, and former champion"Formula" Nigel Mansell had an accident at the very start.

The debut of the Russians here took place back in 2004. Then Alexey Vasiliev, Nikolai Fomenko and Englishman Robert Nirn took part in the Yukos-Freisinger team.

The team stayed on the track for only five hours, at the moment of leaving behind the wheel was, remarkably, a foreign citizen Nirn. But the failure did not break the athletes. Musician and showman Nikolai Fomenko admitted that his lifelong dream came true with participation in the race. Interest in Le Mans does not fade away, and the heart of motorsport continues to vigorously beat and live.

Wakeboarding.

An old-fashioned, as it seems now, passion for skiing gave impetus to another extreme sport. Wakeboarders, unlike ordinary skiers, ride on the water surface behind the boat. Along the way, athletes perform a number of acrobatic stunts that came here from surfing and snowboarding.

The fundamental difference between wakeboarding is the fact that here a person is pulled forward by a force that is not under his control. Therefore, it would be foolish not to use it to the fullest. The prototype of the wakeboard was the skerfer, similarly, the prototype of the snowboard was the snerfer.

Water skiing devices are two skis connected into one. The improvement of the wakeboard has led to the emergence of a more flexible and light board, which makes it possible to accelerate to 30-40 km / h and take off at the same time to a height of 6 meters, starting from the water surface.

To create more powerful and high waves, professionals attach an additional load to the board - ballast. Also, a kicker is often placed in the water - a mini-tramlin, which allows you to increase the amplitude of the jump and thereby perform more tricks in flight.

As in other similar sports, grabs and ordinary jumps are the most popular here. But wakeboarding has a wide variety of tricks. So, on a snowboard or skateboard, you cannot perform a tantrum jump perpendicular to the direction of movement.

This is only possible on the water. There is also additional interest in the possibilities of grabbing the handle of the cable that comes from the boat. This gives about a dozen extra elements for any trick.

Among other things, wakeboarding is quite harmonious in terms of fitness. Thanks to this sport, almost all muscle groups develop evenly. Not surprisingly, about a quarter of wakeboarders in the US are women.

Their active participation in this sport has led to the expansion of the product line and the development of numerous accessories. All this confirms wakeboarding as one of the fastest growing extreme sports.

Skateboarding.

This extreme sport is already about fifty years old and its whole history corresponds to its spirit. Skateboarding has experienced ups and downs, but still remains perhaps the main business card of extreme sports.

Despite all the metamorphoses of society and this sport - social, economic and technical, skateboarding is still a young hobby for young people. Let the main stars are already well over 40, but 85% of the athletes have not yet reached 18.

We know that skateboarding originated in California. There, it was supposedly invented by local surfers in one of their off-seasons, when the boredom of the crests of the wave became especially unbearable.

One can hardly accuse skaters or surfers of disliking chronicles, so the first pages of history are full of gaps. Only the date of the appearance of the first board with wheels in official retail is precisely recorded - this happened in 1959.

This novelty immediately appealed to American teenagers who, with the help of skateboards, replaced their boring school buses. The first professional skateboard appeared on the market in 1963.

There was no furor then, but the reaction of society can be called a mini-boom. Board manufacturers immediately began to assemble their own teams and organize competitions. The most important of them were even broadcast on television.

The simple possibility of riding on your hands and jumping from curbs was so captivating for many that even a specialized magazine about this sport appeared. Makaha alone has sold over 50 million skateboards in three years. But the wave was inevitably followed by a significant decline.

Skateboarding came out of the shadows only in the mid-70s, when manufacturers made some technical improvements and the first skateparks were opened. Year after year, after that, new glades were developed, even pools abandoned due to the economic crisis were used.

Thanks to new models of skateboards, it has become easier to perform some tricks. And then it happened key moment in the history of skateboarding - the invention of the ally. This basic trick, in which the jump can be performed without the help of hands, was first performed in 1979 by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand.

Immediately, the jump was adapted to a flat surface by Rodney Mullen, who came up with the idea of ​​bending the ends of the deck. Rodney is generally a living legend of skateboarding, who invented many more tricks, in particular the kickflip, which became the progenitor of all other flips. During this jump, the board rotated 360 degrees.

It was Mulln who led the skaters from civilian radii to the street, giving them much more freedom. In the late 80s, another revival of skateboarding took place, because the largest clothing manufacturers showed interest in it. In addition, the sport has already diversified significantly with the help of Mullen and his followers, who brought numerous flips and allies.

Today, skateboarding is a real street sport that has been immortalized by TV shows, games and movies. This sport gave rise to a new youth trend, a musical style, even a holiday appeared on the calendar.

Yes, and it’s still not worth considering it dangerously extreme, experienced skateboarders unanimously believe that with sufficient experience and self-confidence, there is no more risk in working with the board than in football or basketball.

Rafting.

As a matter of fact, rafting down the river on an inflatable vessel without a frame can have only one real goal - getting those very extreme sensations that are possible only here.

How can it compare with a multi-day kayak trip on calm water? The possibilities of rafting are great - even unprepared people can be charged into the boat and sent to storm the rapids and rapids. At the same time, you can be sure that people will be satisfied.

When organizing a descent on a raft, it is necessary to clearly define the category of difficulty of the planned route. The river of the first category is considered the lightest; almost a child can raft along it. Such water environment- just a stream fast enough to move on it.

Stones, rapids and rapids appear already in the second and third categories, in order to get around the obstacles here you can no longer do without certain oar skills. In the fourth and fifth categories, obstacles become much more dangerous, and the sixth category is simply not suitable for rafting.

When rafting, progress is not only about moving from simpler categories to more complex ones, there are other landmarks. The most interesting activity during the rafting is the management of the raft.

So, if, when passing through a whirlpool, the passengers all together make a strong stroke with oars, then they will be able to fly over the funnels and avoid the effects of centrifugal force. On some sections of the route, sometimes you have to tilt the raft to the side in order to pass the rapids sideways or even put your ship almost vertically.

You can get special pleasure here by accelerating from a small threshold or even a small waterfall to splash down on a smooth stretch of water. Rafterers learn not only how to maneuver, but in case their raft capsizes, they also learn how to quickly restore their previous position.

Either a rope stretched along the raft, or an improvised counterweight can help here. If the route has a low difficulty category, then flips can be no less fun than the passage of obstacles. Naturally, in no case should you forget to wear a protective helmet.

Mountain bike.

Such an impressive bike is not able to overcome the Tour de France and even on a country road it will be difficult to ride it. After all, mountain biking requires serious obstacles, rugged terrain with many winding paths, dirt and sharp turns.

Riding such a bike requires a strong character from the owner, as well as some craziness in his head. The cyclist's head is covered with a helmet, his hands are dressed in gloves and hold tightly to the steering wheel, while his legs are tightly joined to the spikes on the pedals.

Mountain bike has a special, reinforced design. The frame here has a characteristic trapezoid shape. Both suspensions, front and rear, are equipped with shock absorbers. Ground clearance has also been increased for improved cross-country ability. The tires have an impressive thickness, besides they have a rough tread.

A mountain bike has similarities with cars - there is also a derailleur and disc brakes, although there are models with conventional rims. After repeatedly moving the bike on yourself, you can no longer go to Gym- after all, the frame with the accompanying ammunition weighs about 20 kg.

In general, mountain biking is quite expensive. Prices for bicycles start at 300 euros, with an upper ceiling of 15,000 euros. Professional athletes they are rarely single in this sport - they are either sponsored or financially successful structures.

There are few skills of the athlete himself, his qualities and skills. In many ways, success in mountain biking depends on a quality bike and all its attributes. Bikes differ in materials and production technologies. The discipline in which the athlete performs also plays a role.

After all, mountain biking is a lot of the most different types. Here there are jumping tricks from ski jumps (dirt), free ride (freeride), downhill (downhill), as well as parallel slalom cross-country riding (cross-country) and others.

So, for cross-country, the bike should have a low weight, but in downhill, strength becomes an important aspect. To engage in mountain biking in our country, one must have fearlessness, find park area and invest a sufficient amount for the equipment.

Climbing wall.

Professional climbers have created a new hobby - climbing walls. Initially, these facilities were used only for training. Those amateurs who could not go out into nature, whiled away the time in the conquest of plywood heights.

The main task of the climbing wall was to imitate a natural rock. To do this, the platform is created in a bizarre shape, and many hooks are placed on it. Those who in the truest sense of the word "climbed the wall" began to create their own climbing walls, using pieces of metal, reinforcement and plywood for this.

Someone managed to make a serious business on this. Now there are two types of climbing walls - inclined and vertical, but if desired, they are also combined. Today, beech plywood is used in the construction of climbing walls, and the sites are no longer only a place for training, but also used for commercial purposes.

To practice on the climbing wall, you only need the desire to get a dose of adrenaline and the absence of fear of heights. Often it is the latter that leads people to this hobby. To succeed, you must successfully catch the center of gravity and fix the safety system well.

When the climber moves up, he is insured from below by an experienced instructor. The first ascent to a height of 6-7 meters and touching the carbine with your hand there already make many people want to go to conquer thousands of peaks.

Slamball.

In this sport, basketball and streetball, rugby, hockey and trampoline have united. How could he be unspectacular? After all, athletes who take off above the site at a height of 5 meters and score the ball with relish in the basket attract attention if only by successfully fighting the earth's gravity.

Since slamball is quite young, it is constantly being improved and developed, and its rules are still being modified. The basic rules here are the presence of 4 people in each team and eight anti-gravity trampolines near the rings.

Slamdunk reigns here, all conditions are even created for it - for touching the ring, the most points are awarded here. A little time is allotted for the attack - only 20 seconds, but this is quite enough to use a power move or impress the enemy on the side.

Attacking from behind is prohibited, here it is also impossible to attack a player when he is not hitting the ball on the floor. Injury-prone areas are protected. From the outside, it looks like eight grown men are going rollerblading or cycling.

Initially in general slamball players during development new game almost wearing a motorcycle helmet. There is an interesting innovation here - a bullet for breaking the rules.

The victim does not even come out, but flies to the ring in splendid isolation, and only one defender opposes him. The names of the positions on the site are also curious here. So, the organization of attacks is carried out by a "tamer", in football such a player is called a playmaker.

The Gunners are tasked with scoring the balls into the basket, and the selection of the ball and rare connections to the attack are the lot of the “stoppers”. The creator of trampoline sports, Mason Gordon, dreamed that his heroes could equalize their abilities with the heroes of computer games.

Here, any guy who hasn’t made it close to the NBA can jump above the stars - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. The project is not only charitable, it is interesting from the point of view of pairing seemingly incompatible sports.

Although initially it was based on the principle of the show, literally holy for Americans. It is no coincidence that Gordon was assisted in the development of a new sport by Mike Tolin, a professional television producer. The first site appeared in an abandoned warehouse. She was brought to mind with the help of the first five enthusiastic players.

After trial games between the two teams, a whole draft was held, in which sixty of the best were selected from six hundred applicants. It was they who became the elite of modern slamball, organizing six teams: Rumble, Mob, Diablos, Slashers, Steel and Bouncers.

As soon as it appeared, the game immediately attracted the attention of television, the teams were offered a solid contract with cable TV. However, after two full seasons in 2002 and 2003, the league did not play for 5 whole years, taking a break. However, the return spectacular game with flights all the same took place! And in Australia, it even began to be broadcast in HD format.