{"id":1955625,"date":"2026-05-26T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1955625"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:02:00","slug":"mountain-bike-athletes-take-risks-just-not-when-discussing-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1955625","title":{"rendered":"Mountain bike athletes take risks \u2014 just not when discussing insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/a>
File* photo: Jeff Barber.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the 2025 Redbull Rampage<\/a>, professional freeride athlete Adolf Silva attempted to double backflip a massive drop. Silva came up short, resulting in a horrific crash that would leave the 28-year-old paralyzed.<\/p>\n

In fact, several major crashes plagued the event. And, surprisingly, despite the biggest brands in the industry sponsoring these athletes, few, if any, receive medical coverage from their sponsors.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t talk about insurance<\/h2>\n

Wait. If mountain biking is their job, surely they get some sort of insurance through their sponsors, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Well, no. As I began reaching out to and speaking with professional athletes in the mountain bike industry, a few things became clear. First, these athletes are technically independent contractors. The brands that they work with and represent have no obligation to provide insurance. Secondly, this was not a conversation they wanted to have; well, on record, at least.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, the athletes weren\u2019t necessarily worried about discussing the fact that their sponsors don\u2019t provide medical insurance. They understand that they are contractors and have no expectation that their sponsors would do so.<\/p>\n

In fact, one athlete preferred not<\/em> to be insured by their sponsors. \u201cI\u2019m typically signing one-, maybe two-year contracts. I don\u2019t want to do all the insurance paperwork every year because my sponsor changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather, the reason every athlete I spoke with was hesitant to speak about insurance, and why they all asked to remain anonymous, comes down to the insurance companies themselves. Again and again, I heard the same thing from athletes: In their line of work, it is hard to get coverage. And, when they do get it, it is pretty damn expensive.<\/p>\n

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Getting medical coverage<\/h2>\n

To be clear, no athlete I spoke with rolls through life without medical coverage. In fact, most Americans have some sort of coverage. According to 2024 Census Bureau<\/a> data, 92% of Americans had health coverage that year. And, for some pro athletes, this insurance struggle didn\u2019t even apply to them.<\/p>\n

One athlete was insured through their \u201creal-world job.\u201d In talking with a few athletes, a second job seemed like a pretty common way to attain health insurance. Now, finding \u201creal jobs\u201d that allow them to take time away to race or attend events to fulfill their mountain bike contractual obligations can be tricky, but athletes find them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Working in bike shops, ski shops, and other similar environments are common \u201creal-world jobs,\u201d if you want to call them that. Teachers and coaches also made the short list. It may not be the athlete themselves who told me they held one of these jobs, but rather a friend\/teammate of theirs.<\/p>\n

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Another way many pro athletes get insurance is through their parents. In the US, athletes who are under the age of 26 can remain on their parents\u2019 health insurance. \u201cThere are a lot of younger racers who do this for a living,\u201d another athlete told me. \u201cI imagine that they are on their parents\u2019 insurance. I was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, of the top 100 World Cup DH racers by points (both male and female categories), 62 are under 26. In other cases, a spouse\u2019s \u201creal\u201d job was a way for a professional athlete to get medical coverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once they are too old, or perhaps if they don\u2019t fit any of those categories, athletes who want coverage have to purchase it on the open market. This is where the conversation went a bit sideways, and where pro athletes decided to share their experiences with me, but only if their identities were protected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like firefighters, pilots, and construction workers, these athletes\u2019 jobs are inherently more \u201crisky\u201d than, say, an accountant. Now, technically, someone\u2019s job description shouldn\u2019t affect medical coverage, and they shouldn\u2019t pay more or be denied based on their occupation. Purchasing workers\u2019 compensation coverage, on the other hand, is<\/em> affected by one\u2019s job title.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Some of the athletes I spoke with say they\u2019ve experienced dropped coverage or price increases on other plans too many times to discuss insurance openly.<\/p>\n

Simply put, insurance is a touchy subject.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>
File photo: Jeff Barber.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why insurance is touchy<\/h2>\n

\u201cThey flew a drone over my house,\u201d one pro mountain biker told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Roughly a year ago, the athlete\u2019s homeowners\u2019 insurance company flew a drone over their house, spotting jumps and drops on the property. Shortly thereafter, the athlete received a notice that the company would no longer insure them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sucked trying to find new homeowners\u2019 insurance,\u201d that athlete explained. \u201cAfter that, I just decided not to discuss any insurance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Health insurance, specifically, usually isn\u2019t the main issue. Often, it was poor experiences with homeowner\u2019s insurance or workers\u2019 compensation. While there were very black-and-white examples, like the dropping of the above-mentioned homeowner\u2019s coverage, there were also instances that were quite a bit more grey.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cLast year, I got hurt at work,\u201d another athlete I chatted with told me. This was one of the athletes with a \u201creal-world\u201d job. They went on to briefly explain what happened\u2013a torn achilles\u2013but, for anonymity\u2019s sake, I\u2019ll leave out the \u201chow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWorker\u2019s comp covered everything,\u201d they continued. \u201cIf it had happened on the trail, I would have had to pay my deductible, which was $3,500, then 20% coinsurance for surgery, thereby meeting my out-of-pocket max of $6,600. That\u2019s after a premium of $900 per month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, here is where it gets sort of tricky. This athlete believed their insurance would cover an accident that happened \u201con the trail,\u201d with some out-of-pocket expense. But there is a difference between an \u201con the trail\u201d crash that we\u2019ve all likely experienced and what \u201con the trail\u201d could mean to a pro athlete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the US, workers\u2019 compensation insurance generally covers medical care, rehabilitation, and lost wages due to injuries sustained while at work. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

If a crash occurs at a race the athlete was contractually obligated to compete in, \u201con the trail\u201d could sound more like \u201cat work.\u201d So, it would be a workers\u2019 comp claim, right? Well, no, not if that isn\u2019t the job that a workers\u2019 comp policy is covering. The athlete was hurt while working, but just not working the right<\/em> job. This is where medical coverage gets tricky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, if I crash at a race, I just make sure to leave out the \u2018race\u2019 part,\u201d a third athlete mentioned. \u201cJust another normal day riding when I get to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, for now, the athletes seem fine riding in the grey. This even applies to job titles. The handful of athletes I spoke with mentioned steering clear of \u201cProfessional Athlete\u201d or \u201cRacer\u201d on insurance forms. <\/p>\n

Instead, they choose a title like \u201cBrand Ambassador.\u201d<\/p>\n

* File photo for visual illustration only. The athletes in this photo were interviewed or referenced in this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!–<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–><\/p>\n

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File* photo: Jeff Barber. At the 2025 Redbull Rampage, professional freeride athlete Adolf Silva attempted to double backflip a massive drop. Silva came up short, resulting in a horrific crash that would leave the 28-year-old paralyzed. In fact, several major crashes plagued the event. And, surprisingly, despite the biggest brands in the industry sponsoring these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,274],"class_list":["post-1955625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-singletracks-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1955625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1955625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1955625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1955625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}