Mansour Al Safran - Kuwaiti pro BMX Red Bull athlete riding high on two wheels

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  • Kuwaiti professional BMX rider Mansour Al Safran is one of his country’s most talented and popular sportsman.

    The 26-year-old, who took to the two wheels of the BMX bike at the age of 14, immediately developed a strong passion for the freestyle sport, which sees riders scale incredible heights at speed, make airborne twists and turns and gravity-defying tricks.

    While the lack of facilities for extreme sports in general hindered Al Safran’s initial progress as a rider in Kuwait, it’s now a different story as Al Safran knows first-hand.

    The Skate Park Adventure in Abu Dhabi, Skate Park in Lebanon and Trampo in Kuwait, among others, have given riders and adrenaline junkies new places to ply their trade throughout the Gulf.

    “Growing up finding places to train was difficult but times have changed now and the support for extreme sports in the region is now stronger than ever,” Al Safran, who now helps to grow his profession and judge competitions, said.

    “For example, before there was no skate park here in Abu Dhabi and in the rest of the GCC and you had to ride outside – learning new tricks on the streets wasn’t safe.”

    Al Safran’s development as an athlete led to full-time sponsorship with Red Bull – a brand he has now been affiliated with since 2014. A man of many talents, he is also a long-term member of the Kuwaiti Kayak national team.

    He said: “I feel so happy to be a Red Bull athlete and ride BMX. All athletes have a dream and you can get it, this year or even after five years, you just have to keep going.”

    To date, arguably Al Safran’s finest feat came back in 2013 in Malaysia, where he won the Asian freestyle tournament by winning the bronze medal.

    Watch the video above (courtesy of Abu Dhabi Sports Council) to learn more about the rider.

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