by Chase Stallo
R.I.P. Eigo Sato
Thursday, February 28, 2013 | 10:05 AM
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Racer X is saddened to report the passing of FMXer Eigo Sato. While details on the matter are still uncertain, unofficial reports indicate that he passed away while under rotating a backflip. Sato had previously performed at Red Bull X-Fighters and the X Games, and was a big proponent of freestyle motocross in his native Japan.
Everyone at Racer X sends our condolences to the family and friends of Sato. Godspeed.
Everyone at Racer X sends our condolences to the family and friends of Sato. Godspeed.
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RIP Eigo! At least he died doing what he loved the most. Definitely a sad day for the world of FMX.
R.I.P Eigo
Only heard good things about Eigo...Sad news indeed. RIP.
5 years ago I told my friends that people where going to die because the tricks it takes to win at freestyle are going to get to complicated to pull off every time.
I hate to say it..but FMX might need to go away!
Prayers are with everybody who lost someone in this sport
R.I.P Sato, always sad to hear.
@tommyb
There have been losses in MX, amateur MX, NASCAR, NHRA, Baja, WRC, and on and on...
Should all these go away too??
The athletes know the risk, and I hate to see this happen. Yet it is only a matter of time before it does, and will, happen again...
Back Flips need to go away.
Tommy b in a way your right. The tricks these pro fmx guys are doing are insane,super human pretty much. But they are still human and its unfortunate the reality of it. R.I.P Eigo
I get all your points...and yes the risk are great and sadly more might die, but it is THEIR choice to do it and I guess I have to except that.
My guess is it will become "self regulated" sooner or later
@tommyb, your post pretty much summed up what my emotional reaction is.
Freestyle MX is fun to watch, and backflips are a big part of the show. But I do think that at some point it would make sense to ban certain tricks (such as a backflips) from receiving scores at events. That will certainly NOT eliminate many of the injuries, but I think it would make a difference in reducing some of the most serious fatal accidents. Other sports, even the toughest and most brutal, enact rules to protect participants (look at boxing or MMA).
Firstly, RIP Eigo. May you rest in peace brother.
OK. @tommyb. Guess what dude? We all gonna die one day. Why are you so preoccupied as to how that happens? If it happens while you are doing something you live for, or if it happens when you are old and pissing in your bed while the nurse wipes your ass, so F##king what? Will you know the difference one second after the event?
If you are so shit scared to die, stay in bed and hope a F16 don't fly into your bedroom window.
Well said Pippidekok - Let people choose to live their lives how they want. The last thing we need is for other people making even more rules for us to live by than there already are.
RIP Eigo
Well said pippidekok, if you don't like what someone else is doing dont do it, quit trying to tell others how to live.
pippi, little harsh on a guy that cares about people and life, very rare emotion in todays fyou society, yes we all die, when i broke my neck racing motocross it was very possible i could of died and am very lucky to be alive today, when i got hit by a drunk driver on the way back from a long sunday of practice and he drove away and left me to die bleeding to death on the side of the highway i would of died if not for 3 good guys that cared and pulled me out of the wreckage, i was left without a left leg and 5 back surgerys and coutless hrs. of physical theraphy so i know more than most when its your time its your time, but sometimes we can do things to avoid it, they didnt have neck braces when my accident happen, and the guy the hit me had 2 prior dwis and didnt belong on the streets, on another note i hate to be at an fmx event and have one of my sons wittness something as traumatic as that.
horrible news..no way :O
ride in peace E.S.
die doing what you love so it is not a tragedy... thoughts with friends and family. MOTOfam
DRHLracing. Hey dude, my sympathies for your accident, but I think you missed the point I was making. We can't start telling people what they are doing is too dangerous and it should be banned. Everything in life is dangerous, exactly as you found out driving home while minding your own business.
The point here is, Eigo died doing what he wanted to do. I'm sure he understood the dangers, yet he did it anyhow. He didn't ask anyone to ajudicate whether or not he should be allowed to do it.
Life is a risk, as you well know. Just live it to the max, and when it's your time to go, then so be it.
Once again, greatest respect to the fallen warrior. RIP little buddy.
R.I.P Eigo, awesome fmx rider! Really weird things going on in fmx lately, Jeremy Lusk, Caleb Moore, Jim McNeil, Ox, and i think im missing a couple of guys S=
@TommyB and @ DRHLRacing Yes you have had a few set backs what you don't realize is Your time has already been predetremand!! My husband was read his last rights because an Old Lady picked him off on his street Bike, but he rebuilt the Street Bike and got right back on!! Today he is 58 has been racing Motocross and Hare scrambles all over the state of Fl. for 10 years. All these ignorant comments are stupid and sinceless.
EIGO was doing what he loved just as we all do. For those of you that want to put the MFX sport, find some other place as this should be used for all his fans to send their best wishes not for a Pitty party!! God Bless Eigo's family, know you are in our prayers and take heart knowing he is doing all his great tircks and riding on the best track ever with some of the best riders ever!!
If they have the urge, skill and love of the sport they will do it weather its Banned or not, better that it not be done where they have no EMT's or people around.
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
― Mark Twain
Kimmie,
Stop pretending to know things that you don't know. Also, at least make an attempt at syntax, grammar and spelling.
@DRHLRacing, I appreciate your perspective on this. The dead cannot speak, but I am glad you still can despite what you have gone through.
We can't really know how "excited" these guys were to "die doing what they love". If we could interview them today, somehow I don't see them being too pumped about dying in a horrible accident. I have been very near death three times to the point I truly thought I was toast (one being one a bike right in front of a motorhome on a highway), and I don't recall thinking how awesome it was that I was going to die doing what I loved. In fact, I used all three incidents as learning experiences so I could live longer. No disrespect to any opinions out there; FMX is probably the most difficult sport on the planet to attempt to regulate, because what is fun and exciting IS the danger; I truly get that. Putting in rules really could ruin the fun and excitement and might cripple the sport for good. But I also think it is a real shame to see young fathers dying.
RIP Eigo.
To you all who say FMX should go away or that back flips should go away, listen to yourselves!! you sound like the liberals who want my guns because of a few tragedies. FMX didn't kill Eigo, Eigo killed Eigo...hate to put it that way, but he knew and assumed the risk going in, just like all of us who race locally. It just takes the right fall and you're done.
So please don't start "banning" things just because of what you don't like, they love what their doing and accept the risk...who are we to say...ban it?
Remember there are people who want to ban dirt bikes as a whole...how do you feel about that? they see the jumps and stuff we do just as risky as what Eigo did. All I'm saying is think before saying something about banning.
This is sad news and it is upsetting to hear moto people talk about banning certain tricks. Wow. We choose to do what we do in life and that is one of the most precious liberties of freedom. Everyone on here that rides motocross is putting their life in danger every time they throw a leg over their bike. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
Maybe some people don't want to say it but the truth of the matter is that these guys risking their life doing these tricks is the biggest appeal of FMX. If you don't like people risking their life like that then that is okay but it is their life - their decision to make. Don't try to impose your will on other peoples' lives.
For a sport that boasted no fatalities just a few years ago, the death count is getting a little out of control. I agree with banning backflips. Sure the guys who do FMX love it, but I also know that they pull tricks they don't feel comfortable doing to try and win a competition. Btw, yes everyone dies, so its really a matter of when not if.
Good points on both sides. I notice that all the original freestylers have pretty much moved on after their near death experiences. I'm sure they still ride for fun, but the competitions are out of control. You absolutely will not come close to winning with no backflip, and will most likely have to do a much more difficult variation on a backflip as flips have become mundane. There is only so far you can push the envelope before the envelope folds. The guys doing such tricks have a sense of invincibility that gets them in trouble. Josh Hill actually came out lucky with his injuries. RIP Mr. Sato.
I come from a professional snowboard back ground and there is a few different ways to look at this. One, he was pro and under contract from lots of sponsors who I am sure kept the pressure on him to be winning contests. I know I had it when I was competing. Managers would make sure I was doing the hardest tricks to try to win. So even though I was doing what I loved there was a lot more pressure than a lot of people don't see. It got to the point where I knew to keep performing at that level meant I might get extremely hurt one day. So I quit. Now years later I snowboard for fun, but you won't see me throwing double cork spins on a jump bigger then most motocross jumps. Fact is he might have been totally uncomfortable doing these tricks but realized he had to to keep feeding his family. Its a job he had to preform at a high level, but like any job he could have walked away at anytime. He just knew the reward was worth the risk. We never know our own limits until pushed past our comfort zone. Rip Mr. Sato
I come from a professional snowboard back ground and there is a few different ways to look at this. One, he was pro and under contract from lots of sponsors who I am sure kept the pressure on him to be winning contests. I know I had it when I was competing. Managers would make sure I was doing the hardest tricks to try to win. So even though I was doing what I loved there was a lot more pressure than a lot of people don't see. It got to the point where I knew to keep performing at that level meant I might get extremely hurt one day. So I quit. Now years later I snowboard for fun, but you won't see me throwing double cork spins on a jump bigger then most motocross jumps. Fact is he might have been totally uncomfortable doing these tricks but realized he had to to keep feeding his family. Its a job he had to preform at a high level, but like any job he could have walked away at anytime. He just knew the reward was worth the risk. We never know our own limits until pushed past our comfort zone. Rip Mr. Sato
First Sad to hear RIP ..but i saw this coming long time ago after my first FMX event i knew it wasnt for me...but i did and do respect what these riders do..i did not want to pay $ to see a rider get hurt or killed for so called entertainment. I wanted to see head to head comp, a race..thats just me..but again i know what these guys do is knarly and not for everyone..you can get hurt or die do it....now MX is getting the same way..lots of air to win..lots of risk..but its a race, is the difference. idk...one the one level we should be able to do whatever we want, but at the same time, what is entertainment? and how far are we willing to go to be "entertained"? 1 death per FMX event? ive been riding and racing for over 40 years...
Poor Taka Higashino. Now who will the X Games and X Fighters commentators confuse him with...
hollywood..good point..great perspective on that stage........
very plausible ....
I can't believe I'm in America anymore...."I'm for banning backflips" good grief.
I don't like something cause someone else got hurt...so lets ban it!! waaa!!
I hate people like you, if you're for banning FMX, then you're for banning everything else that freedom represents. We have become a pussified nation. Eigo loved what he did...nobody put a gun to his head and made him jump. I had 3 friends die from motocross....should we ban MX because when you look at it, its an unnecessary risk.
Sad to hear. Seems that freestyle in a number of disciplines has reached "that point" where it's more and more likely that a small mistake can cause a fatal injury. Obviously accidents will happen in any sport, but surely the nature of freestyle already makes it more dangerous. Just as it is their choice to participate, it's also my choice not to watch or support something if I deem it unnecessarily dangerous.
Sad to hear. Seems that freestyle in a number of disciplines has reached "that point" where it's more and more likely that a small mistake can cause a fatal injury. Obviously accidents will happen in any sport, but surely the nature of freestyle already makes it more dangerous. Just as it is their choice to participate, it's also my choice not to watch or support something if I deem it unnecessarily dangerous.
I was having a beer with a mate last weekend after watching the Supercross. We where discussing the injuries from just crashing a dirt bike without even doing freestyle. As much as I love watching it I really hate the fatalities that seem to be flowing at the moment. I actually have a good mate who is one of the top riders in fmx, he rang me last year at the first round of X Fighters & said he will never compete in comps again. He stated it's not worth the risk. Such a tough call but once again very very sad news.
I love how it started out as a well wishing bunch of people and now all everybody is throwing there two cents in. Get over the debates and. just post the only thing that prudent. .I.P. Eigo you will for sure be missed and remembered
Damn phone R.I.P Eigo
@localexpert - all the freestyle guys can do backflips anyways, so what does it really prove? If you honestly believe that those guys are out there pulling crazy ass sh*t because they want to then your a fool. I guarantee you that a lot of the stuff they do, they do because they're pressured to. What kind of industry pushes athletes to risk their lives for the sake of advertising? If you want to pull backflips in your free time, sure, go for it. Putting a rule in competitions that you can't do backflips because they're insanely dangerous is not limiting your freedom, its protecting the riders from the industry and is a measure that seems more necessary then ever.
Young men have the quickest reflexes and best balance of any age group but they are willing to take chances beyond their skill levels. Some pull it off, some get hurt and some die. Peer pressure, sponsors and a desire to win encourage the "go for it" attitude.
If enough young men die performing a trick then a group of skilled riders and retired riders should review the trick and decide on the risk to entertainment value. Promoters will learn potentially deadly tricks hurt ticket sales - taking your kids to an event where young men are killed is not entertainment. I agree in freedom too - yes you have the freedom to perform the trick anywhere you want, just not in a stadium with lots of 10 year olds watching.
All of you are a bunch of bone heads, its not about you and your stupid comments, a person died, show some respect.
If the riders want to come together and decide that they aren't going to do flips anymore then I'd stand behind it but a third party coming in and saying that they are banned from doing them because of the risk is asinine. If a professional athlete and/or entertainer feels like they are being pressured into doing something they aren't comfortable with then they need to stand up on their own and say no. Athletes and entertainers aren't the only people that have pressure and external influences in their lives and careers. If anyone feels like their profession is risking the health and well being of their family more than the good it provides and they keep doing it then shame on them.
This is with all do respect and none of this is towards Eigo. To Eigo Sato, Rest In Peace.
@Smee113
"@localexpert - all the freestyle guys can do backflips anyways, so what does it really prove? If you honestly believe that those guys are out there pulling crazy ass sh*t because they want to then your a fool. I guarantee you that a lot of the stuff they do, they do because they're pressured to. What kind of industry pushes athletes to risk their lives for the sake of advertising?"
Are you kidding? so what you're telling me is that their sponsors are forces them to do backflips and "crazy" stuff? LMAO whos the fool here!!??? You, you moron, a FMX rider can quit at any time.
You're half azz theory is lame. First off, did the FMX rider suddenly fall into a sponsorship or did he work his way to the top? when you answer that correctly, then ask yourself....did he know what he was getting into? then if you answer that correctly....you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel called common sense. If you don't want to do...or be forced to do backflips...don't aspire to become a FMX rider!!!!!!!
Hello!!! we have choices...we can choose either not to do something or do it and except the risks. Like I said, nobody put a gun to his head or any of the FMX riders for that matter. Damn...did we fall into a pool of stupid?
My 2 cents (not that's its worth much) but I watched the special on Mike Alessi on the SX broadcast last week and the team owner and his dad keep saying he needed to man up and do a jump combo. It's easy for people on the side line to say things like that but when you are the one twisting the throttle its not that easy. I hope the pressure of agents, friends etc. did not lead him to take unnecessary risk. RIP my moto brother. Moto regardless of the disclpene it dangerous.
All free choice, we all have it and the pro riders do too. Too dangerous, don't do it, too scary, quit and do something else. Its simple. Kevin Windham had his Epiphany and he quit, smart man and he took advantage of his free will. People are making this sound like they are all forced to do what they do...they wanted to be a racer and this is the nature of the sport. If you decide to be a FMX rider, assume the risk is all I'm saying.
I am so so sad to hear this news! I worked with Eigo on x fighters in Ireland and Mexico and I will always remember his warm smily face. He was a wonderful rider and seemed to get better with age. My thoughts are with the FMX community and his family....RIP EIGO SATO.....LEGEND!
R.I.P Eigo san youre the best forever.
there always a contradiction among us exciting tricks and riders safty.i cant say anything about this.if FMX stops seeking more tricks itll lose attention.but we need riders safty that ll be in inverse proportion to some great tricks.
Hate to make a political point on such a sad topic but you can tell who the liberals are commenting on here. If you don't like backflips, ban them for everyone?
B.I.P.
Backflip in peace
localexpert - You are clearly an idealist who can't take things beyond what is quit literal. Sure, no one's pointing a gun to their head, but let's say you worked your way to the top and you knew that in order to win a competition you had to pull off a move that you didn't feel comfortable doing, would you back down? After spending years of training and dedication, would you honestly throwaway all your effort just like that simply because of the risk? And what about your family or your lifestyle, would you throw that away too over a little fear? Meanwhile your minutes from going for it and your running out of time to back out. No, you cannot think rationally in such a situation. Sometimes we must protect the riders from themselves.
151rider - Definitely not a liberal, in fact quite the opposite. I'm saying that those who run the competitions should ban them, not the government.
smee113 - agreed.
No other sports are just free-for-alls when it comes to safety. When there is a pattern of death or serious permanent injury, most sports evolve with rule changes (example: NFL). Granted it is a very slippery slope, but at some point you do have to protect the riders from themselves (or football players, or you name it).
@smee113
"localexpert - You are clearly an idealist who can't take things beyond what is quit literal. Sure, no one's pointing a gun to their head, but let's say you worked your way to the top and you knew that in order to win a competition you had to pull off a move that you didn't feel comfortable doing, would you back down?"
I worked my way to the top ASSUMING all risks involved!! Look this is Freestyle motocross, what don't you get here!? He did a backflip, which is standard for all freestlye motocrossers, you're making a hypothetical scenario of some crazy azz stunt that he didn't have to do, so save it. He could quit at anytime if the pressure was too much.
Maybe he should have been a carpenter or a mason...or work for fortune 500 company for all I care....the POINT is he choose FMX which requires risks, falling, injuries and possibly death...and guess what so does MX. What if Trey Canard was killed last year when he got landed on? ban triple jumps? I mean c'mon dude you have to see this for what it is. Don't go banning something, especially the backflip which has been done over a million times now because of some tragedies.
I don't see the other FMX riders wanting to ban it nor are they quitting. They know the risks and accept it...the only one who doesn't is YOU
I wasn't referring to the government banning them. Simply stating a liberal mindset. However that is another topic. Quit your whining and live your life to the fullest.
Definetely sad, these guys are taking the tricks to far! The margin for error in freestyle is VERY VERY little!
Best wishes go out to family and friends of Eigo!!
RIP