Two freestyle mountain bikers at Red Bull Rampage were airlifted to hospital after crashing in Zion National Park, Utah.
Adolf Silva was attempting his second run at the free ride event, one of the biggest in the world, when he crashed hard on a steep downhill section of the course.
The Spaniard was attempting a double backflip but crashed partway through the move, landing hard on his head and rolling down the rock face.
Crowds surrounded him and he was loaded onto a stretcher before a rescue helicopter airlifted him to hospital.
The incident occurred shortly before 1pm on Sunday, with Red Bull USA reporting he was ‘alert, conscious and talking to his loved ones’ around half an hour after his transfer away from the scene of the accident.
There was a break in competition before the remaining riders resumed their second runs. Silva had crashed earlier in his first of two runs at the annual event, but appeared unhurt and was able to finish.
He posted an update to social media on Monday evening, confirming he had a “lower back injury” and thanking well-wishers for the outpouring of support.
“It’s great to have my family here and feel all the support from all of you guys”, the post continued.
Later on Sunday Swedish rider Emil Johansson was also airlifted to hospital after crashing down a sheer cliff face after attempting a tailwhip early in his run. The competition was paused again for medical crews to extricate him from an inaccessible position on the ridge line.
Johansson wrote on social media on Monday: “I suffered a big dislocation of my right hip that they managed to pop back in at the hospital… but will most likely need to get surgery on it to clean the socket up from pieces of bone. Besides that I am pretty much unscratched!”
The competition is famous for its unforgiving terrain and the extreme difficulty of the riders’ tricks and jumps.
