Higher, Faster, Further: Sport Extreme

Jumping over glaciers or defeating waves when kitsesurfing: the so-called extreme sports are a stormy affair. In addition, when the athlete is paraplegic, many a person is astonished. Some disabled people go the whole hog at sports.

01/07/2007

 
Thomas Hoffmarck knows no limits;
© extremtommy

Everywhere, Thomas Hoffmarck is called “Extremtommy “. The 40-years old is paraplegic since he had an occupational accident in mining at the age of 22. Motivated by his friends and the rehab he has gradually been more active in sports – starting with basketball right up to triathlon. In the end, he could even make a living out of sports through sponsoring. And he broke records. He won the triathlon for disabled people six times, among others in Wittlich. He beat the world-record with the handbike by reaching 501 kilometres in 24 hours. For a film project he did a bungee jump from a helicopter at an altitude of 200 metres.

Nobody really knows which sports are so-called extreme sports. “To me a sport is extreme, when extreme performances get achieved and one keeps going even though your hands are already bleeding “, says Hoffmarck. His hands were the same after he had driven 3650 kilometres from Cologne to Istanbul with the wheelchair.

 
Till kitesurfing looked that simple,
Nicolas Lanquetin had to practice
a lot © Minnich

The 26-years old collegiate Nicolas Lanquetin is paraplegic since 2002 – because of a snowboard accident. The former windsurf coach wanted to have fun in the water again despite the disability. Following a trip to California, he got the idea of kite-surfing. A stunt kite pulls the board which is similar to a water-ski. Usually, one stands on it and holds the kite. To be capable of kite-surfing as a wheelchair user at all, Lanquetin and his surf friends made the sport device suitable for disabled people. Sitting in a chair on the board his legs are hold tight by a loop. The kite’s handlebar is not only hold by the arms, but also connected to the board. “Until everything functioned at all, it was very difficult. But when it finally worked out, it was great fun.”

However, the Austrian sees the expression extreme sport as a modern trend sport.
“To me it is simply extreme when practised in an extreme way. Kite-surfing is renowned as extreme sport because you make very high jumps and can become very fast.” Surfers without handicap reach up to ten meters and speed up to 76 kilometres an hour. Lanquetin reaches up to 3 metres.

The motivations for the risky and exhausting actions are varying. On the one hand, the sportsmen want to reach their limits, savouring the adrenaline rush. Standstill is boring to them; therefore, they always want to get higher, faster and further. “Kite-surfing means pure enjoyment of life to me“, explains Lanquetin. And then, there is the goal of showing athletes without handicaps which enormous performances a disabled can achieve. “At the beginning, nobody would have expected me to be able to do kite-surfing”, remarks Lanquetin, “but I have shown, that it is possible indeed. Lots of people were astonished.”

 
Hoffmarck almost drove 4000
kilometres in his wheelchair;
© extremtommy

Even “Extremtommy” struggles for recognition of his performances. He does not solely constrain himself to high-performances. Due to his actions, as the tour from Cologne to Istanbul, he supports the integration of disabled people. Further, he collected around 920.000 Euro in the course of his career, which all accrued to benevolent purposes.

“To do sports in an extreme way, one needs to start off slowly, otherwise it can backfire”, warns Hoffmarck. His probably most extreme action was a glacier jump in Tirol in 2001, during which he jumped 40 meters with the mono-ski aided by a ramp and tumbled five times. Without noticing it because of his paralysis, he broke his leg and twisted his heel so heavily that it is misshaped until today. “I wanted to demonstrate that I was able to do it as a wheelchair user, but I had never done it before – and I would never do it again”, he asserts.

 
Kitesurfing needs the right wind
strength; © Minnich

Kitesurfer Lanquetin also warns against wanting too much too fast. From his own experience he knows only too well which kind of panic it can cause when being towed under water with the board because the stunt kite gets out of control: “Although new equipment kite-surfing is much safer today, you should however not go into the water without obtaining an introduction. Ten hours of practice on the water should be a good preparation”, he assumes.

Hoffmarck knows there are only a few disabled athletes who do extreme sports: “Many accept their fate and fear to go all out. Thereby, the sport gives one so much. After accidents, paraplegic must be motivated much more – especially in the rehab.
That is how it was in my case. “It does not necessarily need to be extreme sport.

REHACARE.de

- More on Nicolas Lanquetin and Kitesurfen for wheelchairusers at: www.moeglichkiten.com
- Everything about "Extremtommy" Thomas Hoffmarck at: www.extremtommy.de