Earlier this month, Austrian BMX pro Senad Grosic became the first athlete to perform in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. We caught up with him to find out more about his amazing journey.
How did the people react when you started to perform your shows?
It was unbelievable! There was a crowd of 3,000 people at the first show in the Red Sea Mall in Jeddah. The people were going nuts, taking photos and asking me for autographs. I was really surprised about their reaction.
Why do you think you got such a good reaction?
I think for many of them it was the first BMX show ever. They’ve never seen anything like that before, so it was really special.
Jeddah is quite liberal but Mecca and Medina are holy cities. Did the people there react differently?
No, not at all, which was a big surprise for me. When I was performing in a mall in Mecca, we even were allowed to play music, which is not normally allowed there.
What impressions did you take home from Mecca?
I met a lot of people who had been saving for their whole life to do the Hadj. It’s a very special place. The Grand Mosque of Mecca is an amazingly impressive and beautiful building – you can really feel the special aura there.
Did young people react differently from older people when you were performing?
I think that young people in Saudi Arabia are like all the other young people in the world. When it comes to BMX or skateboarding they might be even more enthusiastic. There aren’t many places to skate or bike over there, but that doesn’t stop them from doing their sport.
Where was your best show?
Definitely in the Medina Skatepark. The crowd was really into BMX and skateboarding. It was my best and most important show. The kids didn’t want me to stop. I normally perform for about 20 minutes, but at the skatepark I doubled my time to 45 minutes. And we had to make a short break after the half of it, to let the people do their prayers.
So there is a BMX and skateboarding scene in Saudi Arabia?
Yes, which was a very nice surprise for me. You know, I was somewhere in Saudi Arabia, far away from home, and the kids there already knew me because they had seen all the videos on YouTube. I would do these kind of shows over and over again, no matter how tired or exhausted I got.
What’s the scene like?
Really close, just like it was in Europe and the US before the sport went mainstream. The Saudi kids really stick together and have to order everything online, knowing that their peers don’t approve it. Some people, like the police may think that their sport is just recreation and useless, but the kids keep on doing their thing. It’s cool that they are putting so much passion into it and it was a real pleasure to perform for them.
Did you receive a warm welcome from people who were not into the BMX and skate scene?
Yes. After one show in Mecca, a guy came up to me and touched my forehead with his forehead and my nose with his nose. At first I was completely baffled and didn’t really know what to do. Later they told me that this kind of greeting is one of the biggest honours you can receive in Saudi Arabia. People normally only greet their close relatives that way, so that was a very special moment.
How did you deal with the temperatures? It must have been very hot…
Oh yes! It was always somewhere between 35ºC and 45ºC. I always did the shows by myself, sometimes spending the whole 20 minutes in the sun. Making breaks was almost impossible because of the people going crazy all the time. So I’d like to thank the DTC (Red Bull Diagnostics & Training Center Thalgau in Austria). I wouldn’t have made it through without their help. But there is always a good thing about hot weather and sun: I’m pretty tanned now.
Check out Senad’s picture diary exclusively in the June issue of The Red Bulletin.
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