Las Vegas, Nevada (December 31, 2008) - On New Year's Eve, motorcycle daredevil Robbie Madison made history in Las Vegas, kissing 2008 goodbye and welcoming in 2009 with a bang. Unsatisfied with traditional resolutions, this athlete broke boundaries and propelled himself into the history books with amazing feats of skill and calculated risk at Red Bull: New Year. No Limits.
Robbie Maddison, who set the world record for a distance motorcycle jump on New Year's Eve last year, followed up this year with a 10-story-high jump, landing on the top of the replica Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas shortly after 9:00 p.m. local time (midnight ET). Red Bull: New Year. No Limits. was telecast live on ESPN to a worldwide audience.
Having broken the Guinness World Record for a motorcycle with a leap of 322 feet, 7.5 inches over the length of a football field during the 2007 Red Bull New Year's Eve event, Maddison had nowhere to go but up - more than 100 feet up. In front of a crowd of more than 300,000 New Year's Eve revelers chanting his name, the 27-year-old Aussie accelerated to 55 miles per hour and launched his bike 105 feet high, landing on top of the 96-foot-high and 40-foot-deep replica Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas. After successfully landing on the top, Maddison swung his motorcycle around and dropped a dizzying 60-plus feet to a landing ramp below, the immense force of the impact lacerating his left hand, which was sutured at a local hospital. Maddison's impressive resume, in addition to his record-breaking distance jumps, includes a very successful freestyle motocross career.
"I just cheated death again," said Maddison. "I'm ready to live another day and am extremely excited to see what 2009 holds for me. The risk level of my jumps was extremely high, and although I was confident in my abilities and preparation, I knew there could have been major consequences, but that is what pushing the limits is all about."
For additional event information, visit www.redbullnewyearnolimits.com.
