BMX Master, Mat Hoffman
No hands, no problem. That was Mat Hoffman's motto at the 2002 X Games as the Condor landed the unthinkable in the BMX vert - a no-handed 900. That's two and a half turns with no hands! The unbelievable feat was just the lastest chapter of BMX history written by the guy who is always pushing the limits of two-wheeled trickery.
The World Champion BMX rider is never one to sit still. The guy known as The Condor has been pulling off mind-boggling tricks since he was 13 years old. Along the way he's become the most exciting and ground breaking BMX master on the planet. And it hasn't been easy. Mat Hoffman's probably had the most and worst crashes in the history of BMX. Check this out. He's had over 50 surgeries, 500 stitches and broken almost every single bone in his body. That's part of the price he's paid to earn 10 World BMX Vert Championships, two X-Games gold medals and a BMX business worth millions of bucks.
Mat Hoffman became a pro at the age of 16. At the time, he was the youngest pro in the history of the sport. In 1989, Mat became the first rider to pull off a 900 (two and a half turns) and his legend was made. Since then, he's invented dozens of new vert tricks, gone 27 feet (9 meters) in the air off a vert ramp and jumped his bike off a 3500 foot (1166 meter) cliff (with a parachute.) That's why Mat Hoffman's called The Condor and that's why he's broken so many bones.
Mat Hoffman is more than just a great athlete - he's also a smart businessman. When he was 19, Mat decided to design and build his own bike because he didn't think any of the other bikes being sold were good enough for the tricks he wanted to do. In 1991, he formed Hoffman Bikes. The bikes are now sold all over the world and the company celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2001. Mat's business endeavours have also helped create a Mat Hoffman action figure, the Mat Hoffman Pro BMX video game produced by Activision and several television series which have been broadcast on ESPN.
Related Stories:
