Pain and pleasure: BMX racers weigh the risks and rewards playing the Olympics’ most dangerous game

By DAVE SKRETTA The Associated Press

FILE - Colombia's Carlos Mario Oquendo Zabala crashes during a BMX cycling men's quarterfinal run at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012. The most dangerous event at the upcoming Paris Olympics might well be BMX, where broken bones, concussions and even paralysis occur with scary regularity. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Christophe Ena]

There are few sports in the Olympics that put the very lives of an athlete at risk. One of them is BMX racing. It was introduced at the 2008 Beijing Games and will take place again at the upcoming Paris Olympics. It involves eight riders at a time flying out of a starting game, down a steep ramp and into a course with tight, banked corners, high-speed straightaways and myriad of jumps. Broken bones, concussions and even paralysis occur with scary regularity. So why do the athletes do it? For some of them, it’s the adrenaline rush. For others, the burning desire to win.