Mathieu
Rebeaud
Switzerland
·
Motocross
Tanggal Lahir | 29 Juli 1982 |
|---|---|
Tempat Lahir | Payerne, Switzerland |
Age | 43 |
Nationality | Switzerland |
Karir dimulai | 2002 |
Disiplin | Motocross Freestyle |
Riding motorbikes is in the Rebeaud’s DNA. Frédéric Rebeaud drove his motorcycle back in the ’50s, and his son Antoine made this hobby a family tradition. Mathieu was just four when Antoine gave him his first motorbike and it was the beginning of history in the making.
Mat’s natural talent on the bike meant he could have easily become a successful racer, but his passion lay with freestyle motocross. He had a certain knack for jumps and tricks, which lead him to a career in FMX and a move from his native Switzerland to the US.
Mat was the first European to win a Red Bull X-Fighters event when he triumphed in Mexico. His backflip combos and underflips are among the best that the freestyle motocross world has to offer, and by 2008 he had been crowned the 2008 Red Bull X-Fighters series champion.
To add to his X Fighters victories, Mat has also picked up the 2006 FIM FMX World Champion title and an array of silver and bronze X Games medals.
In 2011, he suffered a serious injury and was sidelined for an entire season, with his recovery frustrating slow and steady throughout the next few seasons. Then in 2015 he had another setback when he crashed hard again while showing his new trick, the California Roll, forcing him to sit out another season.
Ever the innovator, in 2019, Mat became the first FMX rider in Europe to fly through the air on a bike with an electric motor, thus taking the sport of FMX in a new direction.
"The thrust is totally different," Mat said of the E-Bikes. "I had to get used to it but now I do the same tricks as before. I can train in the evenings or even on Sundays. If I do that with a regular FMX machine, people would complain because of the noise!"