Extreme Kids, Extreme Sports
Kids participating in extreme sports are getting younger and younger.
Oct. 19, 2007 — -- Faster, higher and increasingly younger — extreme sports are getting even more extreme and so are the competitors.
Tyrone Gilks broke a world record for the Evel Knievel-style motorcycle jumping at just 12 years old, when he landed a 169-foot jump on his motorcycle.
And Lauren Buress, 9, is the youngest white-water kayaker to go over a 22-foot waterfall.
Then there are the pint-size adrenaline junkies who ride in the little britches rodeo, some of them saddling up as young as 8 years old.
"You have kids who aren't starting with little league baseball, who aren't playing soccer on Saturday mornings with slices of orange wedges. You have parents taking them to skate parks, taking them surfing, taking them snowboarding and BMXing," said X Games host Sal Masekela.
Kalani David, 9, has been an extreme athlete since he started walking, now every day involves extreme sports.
"Wake up at 6, eat breakfast, go to school, when I'm done school I tutor, when I'm done tutoring I go surfing, when I'm done surfing I go skating," Kalani said, describing a typical day.
Even from age 2, his parents were supportive.
Kalani's father, David David, said, "By the time he was 2 he had his own little board and he would play in the shore break and catch the little foam end of the waves and stand up and ride them to the sand."
All that practice has paid off. Kalani emerged as a next-generation sensation when he skated next to adult athletes during ESPN X game demos.
One afternoon, Kalani took a break from his busy regimen to give "Good Morning America's" Marysol Castro a surfing lesson.
"First of all you don't want to sit too far back, you want to stay in the middle," he said as he demonstrated.
Finally, after several wipeouts, he was thrilled to see Castro get on the board, even complimenting her performance, "You're ready for the big time baby," he exclaimed as he high-fived her.
Kalani has already hit the big time. He has his own entourage: His father, sponsor and agent were all watching the lesson.
