Martti Kuoppa

Last updated

Martti Kuoppa is a Flatland BMX rider from Finland. He is widely recognized as one of the most skilled and most original riders in the history of the sport.[ citation needed ] He has invented and innovated many tricks on his quest for originality.[ citation needed ] He dominated the major contest scene between 2000 and 2002 as the winner of the BMX - flatland event at X Games VIII and has competed in and won a number of contests all over the world, such as the BMX Worlds in Germany in 2002.[ citation needed ] He has produced video parts [ citation needed ] and a solo DVD entitled Moments (Diversion TV) [ permanent dead link ]. He was plagued by injury around 2005 due to practice of flatland. He has shared many online edits that show his continuing quest and hunger for originality. One project, Ground Tactics, provides a forum and contest for flatland riders around the world. At the heart of Ground Tactics is "hardcore flatland skills" and the promotion of originality and creativity. In 2012 Kuoppa announced his retirement from flatland riding to concentrate on other aspects of his life.

Contents

On October 25, 2015, Martti came out of retirement and won FlatArk, one of the biggest flatland BMX contests in recent years. The pro purse of this event was 5,000,000 JPY. [1] This feat is one of his greatest accomplishments, given the competitors at this contest. Specifically, Martti was required to defeat the 2015 World Champion in order to advance to the final round of the competition.

Martti Kuoppa held two Guinness World Records for a time that he set in 2001: "Martti Kuoppa inscrit son nom au Guinness Book of Records with rolling no-footed on the front wheel of his bike for 100 meters and doing 59 pinky squeaks in a minute." [2] Both Records have since been surpassed:

Related Research Articles

Mat Hoffman American BMX rider (born 1972)

Mat Hoffman is an American BMX rider who is considered one of the best vert ramp riders in the history of the sport. He is nicknamed "The Condor" and runs the BMX Freestyle brand Hoffman BMX Bikes based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was contracted to ride for Haro Bikes.

Dave Mirra American BMX rider

David Michael Mirra was an American BMX rider who also competed in rallycross racing. He set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the X Games, and earned at least one BMX medal at the event in all but one year from the competition's inception in 1995 until 2009. He had also competed for several years with the Subaru Rally Team USA as a rallycross driver. Mirra rode for and was fully sponsored by Haro Bikes from the mid-1990s until starting his own bike company. He was a member of the team which won the 2014 Race Across America four-person male category. Mirra died by suicide on February 4, 2016. He was inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame on June 11, 2016.

Bob Haro is an American former professional freestyle BMX rider turned artist and business executive. He is the founder of Haro Bikes and was one of the most important early innovators of BMX freestyle.

Freestyle BMX Cycle sport

Freestyle BMX is bicycle motocross stunt riding on BMX bikes. It is an extreme sport descended from BMX racing that consists of five disciplines: street, park, vert, trails, and flatland. In June 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that freestyle park was to be added as an Olympic event to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Flatland BMX

Flatland is a freestyle BMX riding style performed on smooth flat surfaces that do not include any ramps, jumps, or grindrails. It is sometimes described as a form of artistic cycling with a blend of breakdancing.

Ryan Nyquist American bicycle motocross rider

Ryan Nyquist is an American professional BMX rider with 16 X-Games medals, 39 X-Games competition starts and 60 Dew Tour finals appearances. Nyquist is considered one of the greatest and diversely skilled BMX riders ever. Nyquist has won numerous gold medals in the X Games Dirt Jumping & Bike Park events. Recently Nyquist has had an interest in freeride mountain biking and has been training in mountain biking as well as BMX. He currently rides for Haro Bikes, Vans Shoes, Rockstar Energy Drink, and The Jiffy Market of Los Gatos.

The 900 is a 2½-revolution aerial spin performed on a skateboard ramp. While airborne, the skateboarder makes two-and-a-half turns about their longitudinal axis, thereby facing down when coming down. It is considered one of skateboarding's most technically demanding tricks.

Kevin Jones is a freestyle BMX rider. Raised in York, Pennsylvania, at age 11 he started riding BMX and began BMX racing in 1982. Though successful, he abruptly quit, as he enjoyed dirt jumping more than racing.

GT Bicycles Company

GT Bicycles designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of a Canadian conglomerate, Dorel Industries, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia.

Taj Mihelich is a World Champion American Freestyle BMX rider. He is widely considered one of the most influential BMX riders of the golden era of BMX.

Warwick Brian Stevenson Jr. is an Australian professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1995 to current. Nicknamed the "Warlock" as a play on his given name Warwick.

Brian Foster (BMX rider) American BMX rider

Brian Keith Foster is an American professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) rider whose prime competitive years were from 1992–2000. Had the nicknames "Blue Falcon", BF" and "Dirt" Brian Foster is one half of one of those sibling combinations that every so often that appear in BMX, usually brothers and along with his brother Alan they were the Mid School era's answer to Old School's *Brent & Brian Patterson and Eddy & Mike King. While neither gained as many titles in racing either collectively or individually as the Pattersons or the Kings, they soon became respected pioneers and champions in the then new recognized BMX sub discipline of Dirt Jumping that began as an organized sport in 1989.

The American Freestyle Association (AFA) was the first governing body for BMX freestyle in the 1980s. It was founded by Bob Morales in 1981. The first contest was held at Lakewood, Ca in 1981. Pioneer Riders in 1981 were Eddie Fiola, William Crazy Lacy Furmage, Fred Becker, Tony Ray Davis and Richard Bailey - The AFA started out as the Amateur Skate Park Association promoting events at skateboard parks and gained early notoriety with a series call the "King of the Skateparks" series. BMX Action magazine covered these events helping to bring attention to this new sport. During that time BMX Freestyle consisted of Vert competition and the Flatland Division. The AFA was so popular that virtually every state throughout the country held local events.

BMX bike off-road sport bicycle

A BMX bike is an off-road sport bicycle used for racing and stunt riding. BMX means BicycleMotocross.

Eddie Fiola

Edward Lynn "Eddie" Fiola is an American former professional freestyle BMX rider, and a film stuntman.

Mountain bike trials

Mountain bike trials, also known as observed trials, is a discipline of mountain biking in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Derived from motorcycle trials, it originated in Catalonia, Spain as trialsín and is said to have been invented by Pere Pi, the father of Ot Pi, a world champion motorcycle trials rider. Pi's father had wanted his son to learn motorcycle trials by practicing on an ordinary bicycle.

R. L. Osborn

Robert Lewis Osborn is a BMX rider. His father Bob Osborn started BMX Action magazine. He, along with Mike Buff and Bob Haro are considered the forefathers of BMX freestyle, a style of BMX bike riding that involves flatland and ramp tricks.

Tim Knoll freestyle BMX rider

Tim Knoll is a freestyle BMX rider who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Known for his unique style that combines flatland and street tricks with acrobatic maneuvers, Knoll uses different aspects of the urban environment as apparatuses to perform his tricks. He gained international recognition from a few online videos that have each amassed millions of views. After his Original Bike Tricks video went viral, several of his video clips have been featured on television shows throughout the world, most notably The Tonight Show. He performed on Star King (SBS) and set a Guinness World Record on Guinness China Night (CCTV-1). Knoll has been featured in online video ads for Ford, Genesis, Red Bull, GoPro, Contiki Tours, as well as a mobile-only campaign for Doritos Jacked 3D. An article on Red Bull's website describes him as one of the most creative riders in the world. He gave a TEDx Talk about using creativity to gain notoriety.

Chad Degroot is a freestyle BMX rider from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He's widely regarded as an influential rider because of his trick innovations that contributed to the development of flatland BMX.

Terry Adams is a professional flatland BMX bicyclist from Hammond, Louisiana.

References

  1. "Martti Kuoppa wins Flatark 2015!". 25 October 2015.
  2. buissonrouge. "* GUINNESS BOOK @ 23MAG BMX". www.23mag.com.

Sources