BASE Jumping
BASE jumping typically involves leaping from fixed objects such as tall buildings, cliffs, towers, or bridges. Its danger lies in the extremely low altitude (the world record for the lowest parachute deployment is 50 meters), leaving almost no time to adjust direction and zero margin for error. There are only about 1,000 people worldwide who engage in this sport, yet...
Commentary: Austrian Felix Baumgartner jumped from an altitude of 39,000 meters in October this year, breaking the world record for high-altitude skydiving, but being able to jump from great heights doesn't mean you can handle low-altitude jumps.
Free Solo Climbing
Its full name is “unprotected solo climbing,” where a single mistake can be fatal—so much so that many rank it as the most dangerous sport in the world. A variation of free solo climbing is performed by “spidermen” who scale skyscrapers around the globe, with the Frenchman Alain Robert leading the pack. Wherever he goes, local police go on high alert.
Commentary: There’s only one Baumgartner, and only one Robert; the vast majority of us can only watch from the sidelines.
Steeplechase
At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, South Korean rider Kim Hyung-chil was killed when his horse fell and crushed his head; at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Kazakhstani rider Olga Dolgushina was sent to the hospital after a fall, and her horse was euthanized... Equestrianism is the only Olympic sport that requires close cooperation between humans and animals, but even normally docile horses can easily be startled by external factors—lights and sounds can both cause them to panic.
Commentary: The danger in equestrian sports comes from the human-horse partnership. Humans may be fearless, but horses aren’t necessarily brave—so this seemingly noble and elegant sport is actually full of pitfalls.