DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!
CINCH WORLD'S TOUGHEST RODEO RETURNING TO THE IWIRELESS CENTER THIS WEEKEND!
(Moline, IL) -The Cinch World's Toughest Rodeo returns to the iWireless Center, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 27 & 28, featuring the ONLY pro bull jumper to ever perform in the United States in addition to top professional rodeo action, Women's Barrel Racing and fan favorite...Mutton Bustin' for the little buckaroos. This family friendly show opens the arena from 6 - 7 p.m. for fans to "get down in the dirt" for preshow pony rides, autographs with cowboys and featured entertainers, sit on Midnight the tame bull in the bucking chutes, or go behind the chutes for a tour. It's your chance to "go out West" for the night.
What: World's Toughest Rodeo
When: January 27 & 28 at 7:30 PM
Where: iWireless Center, Moline, IL
Adult Tickets: $19.50-$60
Kids Tickets:$9.75-$60
The World's Toughest Rodeo returns to the iWireless Center, Moline, IL, January 27 and 28. The Free Pre-Show begins each night at 6:00pm and the action starts at 7:30pm. Tickets are family friendly and available now online at www.ticketmaster.com or at the arena box office. Kids are half price Friday night only.
What to Expect This Year:
Manu Lataste, of Dax, France, world champion bull jumper, is traveling halfway around the world to jump bulls at the Cinch World's Toughest Rodeo, at the iWireless Center in Moline on Jan. 27 & 28 at 7:30 p.m.. That's right: Jump bulls. Not ride them. Not rope them. Jump Them!
The sport is focused not on defeating the bulls, but rather it focuses on athleticism. Jumpers like Lataste run head-first toward a charging bull, time their jump to miss the horns, and get enough lift to perform a spectacular aerial movement as the bull passes below them.
The tradition of "Course Landaise" is linked to Lataste's home region in the southwest of France but also can be found in Spain and, according to Penn Museum, may date back to the Minoan civilization around 1500 B.C.
Manu is only about 5-foot-6. It is unbelievable to see as he runs head-on toward a bull and flips over him ... it is something you've never witnessed before. Fans will find that he may be the most athletic human being you've ever seen.
Lataste began jumping cows 15 years ago, on his brother's farm at the age of 14 and advanced to bulls at 16. "Jumping a bull is and must be a passion above all. This is much more than cultural. It's passion," Lataste said.
The performance is both artful, athletic and terrifying for the audience and jumper alike. "Before jumping, I refocus myself on the goal and the beast; I forget everything else voluntarily. I'm extremely nervous in these times. I have known fear like everyone else. It's very hard to live. It is not known why it happens, and it takes a long time to go away. It's very hard," Lataste said.
He's experienced nine injuries since going pro in 2000, but the thrill continues to outweigh the danger. The footing in U.S. rodeo arenas will provide an additional challenge to Lataste, who is used to running on smoother footing. The rodeo bullfighters assist in keeping Manu safe and are there immediately if something happens.
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