The use of the word ‘extreme’ provides a sense of risk or high entertainment to the sport. Some extreme sports have existed for decades including rock climbing and surfing. Modern day extreme sports include those that have a high level of risk attached or provide athletes with an opportunity to explore outside their comfort zone and find thrill in adrenaline pumping activities. Base jumping, skydiving, street luge and kite surfing are examples of modern day extreme sports.

Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were new sports added to the agenda for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The push for more extreme sports to be added is in response to the growing interest and participation in extreme sports. We know from previous content that spectator and participant involvement contributes to a large amount of the sports success. The attraction for spectators and participants alike to extreme sports has been the uncontrolled variables or things we have no control over, i.e. playing surface, weather, terrain and possibly snow. Red Bull is a major sponsor of extreme sports with the label “gives you wings” to suggest the idea of flying becoming an attraction to its large participant numbers.