Extreme Sports: Failure is Success

Someone once said "There's no such thing as bad publicity." Boy, did they hit the nail on the head. Many infamous celebrities have gained fame (or more fame) through embarrassing moments, fashion faux pas, and various shortcomings. The X Games are no exception. Just as Paris Hilton rose to stardom thanks to her tape and Janet Jackson gained a ton of media attention courtesy her "wardrobe malfunction," skater Jake Brown has now been immortalized as the skater who experienced the worst slam in X Games history, and possibly the worst ever caught on tape.

If you haven't already heard, Jake Brown, a professional skateboarder from Australia, lost control of his board while performing a trick and fell over 40 feet (approximately 4 stories) from the top of a quarter-pipe while skating in the Skateboard Big Air Event of the X Games on August 2nd. He landed on the base of the wooden quarter-pipe face-down with such an impact that his shoes popped off. Amazingly he survived with only minor injuries. After about 5 minutes of lying motionless, he was able to move. About 10 minutes later he was able to walk away (albeit quite feebly) by the strength of his own 2 legs. Brown, who had been in first place prior to his mighty fall, won the silver medal in the event for the second straight year.

Jake Brown's fall overshadowed not only the rest of the X Games but even his own amazing feat performed just before his fall. Seconds before his epic slam, Brown descended down the ramp and landed a 720 (two complete turns) over the gap. Prior to this event, the trick had never been successfully landed in competition. However, his record-breaking trick hasn't bought Jake Brown nearly as much publicity as his 4 story fall. In fact, thanks to Brown's incredible fall, the actual winner of the event has received very little media coverage. When I first heard this story on the news, they didn't mention the gold medal winner at all. I had to look it up myself on the internet in order to find out who it was (it was Brazilian skater Bob Burnquist for those who are wondering).

It just goes to that when it comes to extreme sports, failure isn't always a bad thing. Jake Brown was a relatively unknown skater before his legendary fall. Now, anyone who follows the sport of skateboarding (and many who don't) know who he is. In fact, several extreme sports participants have said that attempting a dangerous trick is a win-win situation. If they land the trick, great; they go down in history for their skill. If they fail, also good; videos of their slam are shown on the news and spread around the internet and they still go down in history for legendary slams. For this reason extreme sports have become one of the few sports where failure not only leads to future success but actually is success.