I was lucky to photoshoot a great FMX rider and a good friend of mine Ronnie Renner on many locations and many amazing projects worlwide. This time Ronnie got the city in the mood for the first-ever Red Bull X-Fighters event in Greece on a thrill-filled tour through the capital city. Ronnie Renner, the four-time winner of the X-Games and the winner of the Red Bull X-Fighters in Mexico City in 2005 took a little tour of the city, paying a particularly spectacular visit to the Athens Academy and showed some breathtaking tricks in front of the Statue of Athena to warm-up the second leg of the five-stop 2015 Red Bull X-Fighters season.
He’s seen in the air with his motorcycle in front of the neo-classical Academy building with the stature of the goddess of Athena in the background, as well as meeting with two “faux” and hipster-looking Evzones, the kilt-wearing members of the presidential guard.
The 2015 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour riders will be pushing their tricks to the limits in the Dionyssos Marble Quarry on Mount Penteli in front of a sold-out crowd that will watch twelve of the world’s best FMX riders jump up to 30 meters in distance and up to 15 minutes high while performing dazzling gravity-defying tricks. The first-ever stop in Greece promises to be one of the most exciting venues in the history of the sport and the field includes World Tour leader Clinton Moore of Australia facing off against former winners Levi Sherwood (NZL), Tom Pages (FRA) and Josh Sheehan (AUS).
WHO IS RONNIE RENNER?
Ronnie Renner likes his airtime. A veteran of the motocross circuit, he’s also a superstar of the freestyle world with the press coverage to prove it. Born in Florida, USA in 1977. But it’s the view from above that really gets Ronnie flying high; he continues to reset the bar and our expectations for what is possible once a dirt bike leaves the ground. He set a world record in 2007 for step up, launching 35 feet 6 inches to best a record that had stood for many years. In 2008, he was at it again. This time, he soared nearly six stories – 59 feet 2 inches – off a quarterpipe, setting another world record. Now in his 30s, Ronnie is looking forward to the next stage in his storied career: launching the careers of other riders with his “all MX” training facility. But don’t count the Ren Dawg out. Not content to be just the “trick guy”, he’s now pushing the edges of freestyle riding with events like the X Games and the Red Bull X-Fighters.
You can read the article from my latest adventure with Ronnie Renner in this post.
The teaser jump got excellent coverage as well. World agencies like EFE, EPA, DPA, and many others published pictures of the day (Stern, LA Times, Guardian…) on their websites and newspapers.