Returning to form after injury, Levi Sherwood aims for new heights as the Red Bull X-Fighters perform to a sell-out crowd in Moscow’s Red Square.
Late afternoon and Red Square is still baking in a 30-degree plus heatwave. In a corner of the square a small group of off-duty Russian soldiers loosen the buttons of their heavy wool jackets and take photos of each other in front of the ice-cream-cone domes of St Basil’s Cathedral.
Behind them a horde of Japanese tourists breathlessly circles the basilica. As they reach the rear of it, they let out a collective sigh of appreciation as they catch sight of a very different cathedral being constructed in the space by Russia’s most recognisable landmark.
A huge playground of earth and steel is slowly taking shape. It’s being readied for a competition that will, three days later, bring 12 of the world’s finest freestyle motocross riders out in front of 40,000 fans for the third instalment of what has, over the past 10 years, become FMX’s toughest competition.
For now, though, the arena is relatively quiet. Only the clang of construction and the drone of the diggers relentlessly shaping and reshaping the towering dirt jumps ring through the heavy air.
At the top of the course, in the riders’ area, the same torpor holds. The riders have retreated from the sun. Here today to prepare their bikes, mentally map the course and plan the sequence of gravity-defying tricks they’ll launch over the next few days, most are now sheltering in their respective garages.
Which is how Levi Sherwood is found, the young rider tucked deep into the corner of his garage and picking through a pile of bike gear.
Sherwood is one of the sport’s brightest prospects. Just 18 years of age, he’s been throwing himself and his bike 15m in the air over distances of 35m since he was just 12, joining the pro Crusty tour in Australia aged 14. Last year, with regular rider Jeremy Stenberg injured, Sherwood received a last-minute invitation to the opening round of the Red Bull X-Fighters
For the full story pick up the August Red Bulletin Magazine.
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