he Ice Cross Downhill World Championship, Red Bull Crashed Ice, returns to the USA for the second race of 2014 in Saint Paul, Minnesota from February 20th- February 22nd. This year, Red Bull attempted a new way to recruit skaters from around the United States by creating online video submissions asking skaters desiring to make team USA to demonstrate their talent and reason to be on the team. Graduate of THE Binghamton University and current medical student, John Roufaiel was socially voted as number one after submitting his video and has been selected to represent Team USA in this year’s event.
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John is a personal friend of mine and a true inspiration. He recently recovered from a broken back to achieve his dream of qualifying for Red Bull Crashed Ice, a goal he has been chasing since 2007. Please support John by donating below. Whether you give $1, $10, or whatever your means allow, you’ll be supporting Team USA in this awesome extreme sporting event. All proceeds will go towards funding John’s trip to St Paul, and any additional funds will be donated to charity.
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To learn more about John, see the video that was chosen as the #1 submission, and find out more about Red Bull Crashed Ice, click “Read the rest of this entry”
Red Bull Crashed Ice is a badass Ice Cross Downhill event where competitors from all over the world tackle extreme man-made tracks to see who can get to the finishline the fastest. The best way to explain the sport is to show some highlights from one of last year’s events:
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Pretty wild, huh? Why would anyone want to compete in such an insane sport? I guess the best way to answer that question is to let the athletes speak for themselves.
From John:
I have been attempting to compete in the extreme sporting event of Red Bull Crashed Ice, on and off since 2007, since I first heard about it. My life has taken me to so many places around the world that it made it difficult to train for the sport. Finally, this year I decided to not let my travels and life stop me from reaching my dream. I traveled to 3 cities across the U.S. (Buffalo, NY, Chicago, IL and St. Paul, MN.) by train, bus, cab and walking to tryout on-ice. I got to the point that I was 0.12 seconds away form qualifying to represent the USA. Fortunately, Red Bull offered a new way to qualify this year and that is by submitting an online video demonstrating my skills and reason to compete. Here is the YouTube video:
My best friend passed away from leukemia at the age of 26, Emre. Watching him fight for his life made me aware that I must daily fight for my own and to enjoy it to the fullest. My goal is to spread HOPE and inspiration to many around the world. Competing in this sport as a medical student is also difficult because I must complete my studies at the same time while training for a near Olympic event. Please help me cover these costs and any additional money will be donated to charity! If you would like your name or a name of a loved-one fighting for their life on my equipment, then let me know! Last year the event was televised on NBC and this year on FoxSports1, RedBull.tv and Apple TV! Thank you and looking forward to your support!
Make sure you watch this year’s event, and again, if you can help John in his quest to represent the USA in Minnesota, make sure to send a couple bucks his way via the widget above or by visiting his GoFundMe page HERE.
