Uncommon As They Come

I turn on ESPN nearly every morning, and it’s the same story, depending on the time of year. Football, basketball, baseball, and golf dominate the headlines and segments. I have loved these sports for as long as I can remember, and I’m sure I always will. However, I frequently find stories in less well-known sports that pique my interest.

Deep, by James Nestor, details the mind-boggling depths freedivers descend in competition. The Barkley Marathons documentary follows a wacky race in the mountains of Tennessee where creator Gary Cantrell lights a cigarette to signal the competitors to begin their 100-mile journey, repeating a 20-mile, unmarked loop five times. Loops two and four are run counterclockwise, and the direction on loop five alternates for each competitor as they finish loop four – I’m confused just writing it down. And my goodness, the Free Solo documentary following Alex Honnold made my hands sweat from the moment it began.

I often find myself flipping through channels to search for some of these uncommon sports, but never with much success. What are other sports we don’t hear about? What exceptionally talented athletes compete at a high level but are never highlighted when I turn on SportsCenter in the morning?

From Bobsledding and Canoeing to Acrobatic Flying and Gaming, Red Bull supports many athletes in a wide range of disciplines that you may have yet to come across. So, I turned to one of the most well-known brands in the world to learn more about a few less well-known sports.

Cliff Diving

According to Red Bull, the sport of cliff diving “originated hundreds of years ago in Hawaii. King Kahekili, after whom the champion’s trophy is now named, was a Hawaiian chief who first leapt from the holy cliffs of Kaunolo in the 1700s.”

At its core, cliff diving is free falling into the water from a platform up to 90 ft high while performing acrobatic maneuvers along the way down. The athlete will hit the water at nearly 53 mph.

Scoring

Five judges will score each dive from 0 to 10 in half-point increments. The highest and lowest scores are discarded, and the three remaining scores are added and multiplied by the degree of difficulty of the dive. The degree of difficulty is measured on these five factors:

• Type of take off
• Number of somersaults
• Number of twists
• Position during the somersaults
• Type of entry

There are typically four rounds of diving in a competition, and points are awarded from 1st to last place. A diver must complete at least one dive to be included in the final standings.

Eleanor “Ellie” Smart

Ellie Smart is a 27-year-old Missouri native and permanent Red Bull diver who made her cliff diving debut in 2017. She placed 2nd overall in the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Her emphasis on becoming an innovator in the sport motivates her to improve her performance in every competition.

Watching Ellie dive is absolutely terrifying and amazing. She is undeniably graceful in the air and clearly has a precise awareness of her body as she bends and contorts herself in freefall before entering the water exactly as she predicted.

Ellie has an entertaining video series entitled “Ellie & Owen – The Story of a Cliff Diving Couple” on YouTube, where she documents some of her adventures in cliff diving.

The 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series concludes in Auckland, New Zealand, in Waitemata Harbour on November 19th. The event will be broadcast on ESPN+, where you can watch Ellie compete for the King Kahekili trophy.

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Lumberjack

The Stihl Timbersports Series consists of six disciplines that test your power, endurance, and accuracy – the underhand chop, stock saw, standing block chop, single buck, springboard chop, and hot saw.

Underhand Chop

Athletes stand on a 30-32 cm block of white pine and swing a 6 lb ax at speeds around 60 mph. The goal is to chop the block into two pieces as quickly as possible. A winning time requires precision, accuracy, and power as the athletes hack away at their wooden block pedestal.

Stock Saw

Beginning with a running 20-inch bar and chain saw, competitors place their hands on a 40 cm block of white pine. At the firing of a gun, the lumberjacks must saw two complete discs within 10 cm of the edge. The fastest cut wins the round.

Standing Block Chop

The Standing Block Chop is a test of raw power and accuracy. Lumberjacks take a 6 lb ax and chop a 30 cm white pine block in two. American Matt Cogar holds the world record of 11.03 seconds.

Single Buck

Nicknamed the Misery Whip, the Single Buck starts with a 46 cm white pine block and a 15 lb, 6-6.5 ft saw blade with 90-100 teeth. The goal is simple – sever one disc from the wooden block as fast as possible. Most competitive lumberjacks will complete the task with 10-13 strokes.

Springboard Chop

A 27 cm, 9 ft wooden pole stands on end and is anchored to the ground. Competitors hack at the pole with a 6 lb ax to notch pockets to secure a 5 ft long plank they can then stand on to move up the pole into a high enough position to finish the task by severing the top of the pole 8 ft off the ground. The chop requires two pockets up the pole to raise the lumberjack to an adequate height to take their final blows at the top.

Hot Saw

The saw is powered by a 250-300 cc, 60 hp, and 60 lb dirt bike or snowmobile engine. Athletes begin with a cold start (engine off), fire up the engine at the sound of a gun, and make three disc cuts within 15 cm of the edge of a 46 cm white pine block. Matt Cogar currently holds the 3rd fastest time in the world at a staggering 4.84 seconds.

Matt Cogar

At 6’3” and 245 lbs, Matt Cogar was built for chopping wood. He hails from West Virginia in a region that has produced many of the best timber sports athletes.

From a young age, Matt was fascinated by the underhand chop. By 13 years old, he was winning the event against 18-year-old competitors. This year at the US Pro Championships in July, Matt placed 2nd overall and took home individual titles in the Underhand Chop, Standing Block Chop, and Hot Saw.

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Skydiving

Human flight describes the essence of skydiving. While there isn’t a well-known skydiving competition, there is no doubt these athletes are very skilled. One of the most widely known skydiving jumps occurred in 2012 when Felix Baumgartner ascended to the stratosphere in a helium balloon and then jumped from an altitude of 128,100 ft (approximately 24 mi or 39 km), breaking the sound barrier during his descent.

Luke Aikins

At 49 years old, Luke Aikins has logged over 21,000 skydives and nearly 9,000 flight hours (he’s also a pilot). At age 16, the Corpus Christi native made his first skydive and became a licensed pilot. If that isn’t impressive enough, in 2016, Luke jumped out of an airplane at 25,000 ft without a parachute and successfully landed on a 100 ft by 100 ft net, free-falling at a terminal velocity of around 120 mph. Luke is a Red Bull Air Force team member whose mission is to “push the limits of human flight.”

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Freestyle Motocross (FMX)

Freestyle Motocross is an adrenaline-pumping sport that has gained popularity worldwide. Simply stated, FMX, as the sport is commonly referred to, is an extreme sport that combines elements of traditional motocross racing with acrobatic tricks and stunts. Unlike conventional motocross racing, where riders complete laps on a designated off-road circuit, freestyle motocross riders focus on performing jaw-dropping tricks and maneuvers while jumping over specially designed ramps and obstacles.

FMX competitions are typically judged events where riders are scored based on the difficulty, execution, and style of their tricks. Some of the most prestigious freestyle motocross competitions include the X Games and Red Bull X-Fighters.

Tyler Bereman

Tyler is a 32-year-old California native who idolized motocross legend Jeremy McGrath growing up. He’s earned several X Games medals and has even found success in the stunt performance industry. Last year, at the Red Bull Imagination event in Kansas, Tyler described his first jump of the event, where he speeds through 1st and 2nd gear to gain enough speed to clear a 120 ft gap. While in mid-air, he clicks into 3rd gear and lands at full throttle to accelerate to launch himself over an even bigger 180 ft split.

Today, Tyler is focused on his vision of perfecting a dirt bike course for freeriders which will host the 2023 Red Bull Imagination event in Fort Scott, Kansas, on September 30th. Although the event will be complete at the time of this article, it will air on ESPN2 on October 8th, 2023.

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Photo Credit: Red Bull Media House

Impressive doesn’t quite describe the talent these athletes possess. One common thread among every person referenced above is the intensity at which they pursue their discipline. They live and breathe their passion and work to perfect it with an excitement and enthusiasm that seems to have no bounds.