19th February 2010

Extreme High Jump

19 February 2010

A unique concept will kick-start the action at the National Indoor Arena for the Aviva Grand Prix on 20th February, when BMX riders and inline skaters take on British high jumpers in an Extreme High Jump exhibition. 

Introducing youth sports to the world of athletics, this event promises to push the boundaries of the high jump as the rules are swapped for tricks and stunts.  The traditional high jump bar will be replaced by a laser beam and fosbury flops are likely to be ditched for 180s and back flips.  For once it’s not about how high you go, but how far you push the boundaries.

Demonstrating spectacular athleticism, the event will highlight that athletics – running, jumping and throwing – is the foundations of all other sports, even extreme sports like BMXing and skating.  

The athletes taking part in Extreme High Jump include up and coming British high jumpers Jessica Leach, 22, Adele Iassu, 20, Simon Phelan, 23 and Matt Roberts, 25. 

Plus, we are delighted to announce a new name to the line-up of high jumpers, flying all the way over from North America especially for this event, is 21year old Justin Jus’fly.   Having taken YouTube by storm with his tricks (he’s clocked an impressive 400,000 views), Canadian Jus’fly mixes high jumping with slam dunking, and is currently promoting the NBA All Stars Match in USA.

Representing the extreme sports will be 18 year old BMX-ers Adam Dutton and Josh Cox, alongside 20 year old Richard Ferguson.  They will be joined by inline skaters Jenna Downing (23) and Steve Swain (23).

Fuzz Ahmed, UKA’s National High Jump Coach is looking forward to the event on 20th February – “The High jump is one of the most challenging of all the track & field disciplines.  Our top male athletes traditionally jump well over 2m – that’s higher than the average doorframe. High jump is a really technical event and requires lots of hard work and discipline, but occasionally at the end of a training session, the athletes show off ‘alternative’ ways of getting over the bar, with somersaults and backflips!  I’m confident that my high jumpers will win the crowd over, but whatever happens, it will be great fun to watch.”

Among the extreme youth sports athletes, is 21 year old Jenna Downing.  The 2008 LG Action Sports World Champion and 10 x British Champion Inline skater , Jenna says “I’ve always enjoyed watching athletics on TV but never thought I’d actually compete against other athletes who do such a mainstream sport. The high jump is such a traditional event and combining it with much more modern disciplines such as skating is going to be really exciting.  It’s a great idea and I can’t wait to show-off my jumping skills on my skates.  I have no idea how the high-jumpers jump so high off the ground, with no ramps to help them.   With inline skates, we can do some awesome tricks and I’ve seen the BMX athletes do some cool stunts.  I’m looking forward to taking my sport to a new audience at the NIA and hopefully people will see what we do and want to get involved!”

Tickets for the Aviva Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham on Saturday 20th February are available by phone on 08000 556 056 or online at www.uka.org.uk 

To see an exciting preview click PLAY.