EXTREME expands its global ambassadors program

EXTREME, the lifestyle brand renowned for its attitude, creativity and nonconformity is psyched to announce the signing of seven new ambassadors; Danny León, Tomas Zejda, Jason Phelan, Freddy Pulman, James Jones, Nico Vink and Ola Selsjord.

With an existing roster of over 80 athletes, artists and DJ’s, being supported the latest additions to the team will further boost the brand reach and cement its heritage to drive and support the sports at the core. EXTREME take pride in their stance to support not only world champion pro’s, but also have Grass Routes riders on board that will be the influencers of the future.

The latest group of high profile signings will take the ambassador programme from strength to strength by further increasing the amount of EXTREME role models.

Ryan Maxwell, EXTREME Marketing Manager added, "I am really proud to be supporting these guys and have them as faces of EXTREME. The passion they have for the sports we love will only amplify our objective to increase awareness and participation. We already have some amazing projects lined up so watch out!"

The seven riders are spread across multiple disciplines and each bring a wealth of experience and achievements;

To start, Danny León, Madrid-based pro skateboarding sensation. Danny, is quickly becoming a leading light in the skateboarding arena. Born in 1994, Danny’s introduction to skateboarding started when he looked out of his bedroom window to see a skate park under construction in his local neighbourhood. After many evenings of watching the local kids ripping up the park, Danny convinced his parents to buy him a skateboard, and the rest – as they say – is history. His progress was fast and furious. Before long, he was nailing tricks old and new, and gaining a reputation as one of the rulers of his local park. At just 21 years old, he has developed into a prolific and agile performer and has a string of successes under his belt. Crowned the winner of the Baltic Games Skate Contest in 2014, he also took an impressive third place in last year’s Skateboarding World Cup at Vigo in Spain.

Secondly, professional freestyle mountain biker rider, Tomas Zejda, was born in the Czech Republic and has been riding since he was 12 years old. Continually striving to build up his skills to the next level, Tomas excels at slopestyle, dirt and downhill racing. He's also into a whole host of stunts, and cites combos as his favourite tricks, in particular the double whip. The best advice he ever received is 'if you're not having fun, don’t do it!' Living and breathing this positive attitude, Tomas is always looking forward to what's coming next. Tomas explains how "In Freeride Mountain Biking, nothing ever stands still. We're always thinking ahead and driving forward to reach the next milestone."

Jason Phelan, professional BMX heavyweight, started out at the age of 12, too. Jason Phelan, grew up in Waterford, Ireland, building dirt jumps in his garden. The intrepid rider discovered a motocross track on his grandfather's farmland, where he spent his boyhood days building jumps and sending himself off drops and hits. Now an international pro-competitor, Jason is one of today's toughest BMX riding machines, always pushing himself to the limit and going for the highest and craziest moves, full-throttle, with fearless enthusiasm. He even has a bike frame named after him ('The Irish') and is writing a book about his exploits. Recently, he has teamed up with the Professional Diving Association and plans to build a unique ramp set-up on two deep sea diving boats to create a viral online sensation. Jason says "I love BMX because I still get that same amazing feeling today that I experienced when I first stepped onto a bike. Not a day goes by when I don't want to ride, and thanks to the sport, I have been given the incredible opportunity to travel."

Fearless FMB pro, Freddy Pulman, has been dirt jumping for the last six years but riding bikes since a very young age. In his hometown of Dalwood in Devon, Freddy practised relentlessly as a child. After finding a dirt jumping spot in Exeter, which entailed cycling almost 30 miles just to reach the jumps, he began to develop agility, stamina and skills that would see him become a major challenger in the FMB world. When he's not working hard on the dirt jumps, Freddy is employed in the building trade, which also keeps him physically fit. Being busy during the week motivates him to get out riding and push himself even harder at the weekend. Freddy names his favourite trick as the flatspin and he's constantly motivated to improve by watching videos of major competitions. His advice to starters in FMB is 'Stick at it and never give up'. With an FMB World Ranking of 28, Freddy took an admirable second at FMB AM Cup Europe in 2014, and pulled off a first place at DMR Dirt Wars PRO in 2015.

From Swansea in Wales, James Jones is considered a rising star on the international BMX scene. Taking to his first BMX at the age of six, James has never looked back. Inspired by riders in his local park, James always knew he wanted a piece of the BMX action. Also a talented footballer, this highly disciplined sportsman has been active all his life. Always searching for the next big experience, anything is possible for this positive and fit young athlete. James' talent has already been recognised on the international BMX scene. Competing nationally and around the world, he's eager to showcase his skills whenever he has the chance, and is working towards his dream of competing in the highest level contests. He tells us that "You only get to reach your goals by trying again and again, and in BMX you feel really empowered to win once you’ve perfected your moves."

Nico Vink, Freeride Mountain Bike rider, grew up in Belgium in a village called Saint-Gilles, where his father owned a bike shop. Following his father’s lead, he soon got into riding, and 27 years on, loves it as much today as on day one, and is forever pursuing the next big dream. In his early years, Nico rode a range of BMX tracks, skateparks and trails, and entered into downhill racing at the age of 16. After being on the World Cup circuit for 15 years, he started riding motocross. Following this, hitting the big moto jumps inspired him to want to go bigger on his downhill bike! Certainly not a stranger to hard work, when he’s not riding, Nico is running his own trail-building firm, Ride Creations – creating bespoke tracks and trails for companies and pro's. Nico says "If you want to be a winner, there’s no getting away from working hard, on and off the bike. Practice truly does make anything possible if you put the hours in."

Last but not least Ola Selsjord, born in Oslo, Norway, in 1993. Ola is fast becoming a serious contender in the sport of BMX. According to Ola, 'the best part of BMX is having the freedom to do whatever you like when riding – there really are no limits if you set your mind to it'. With an incredible and inspiring run, Ola's riding dreams came true when he took first place in the BMX Park final at the Virgin Mobile FISE Xperience Reims in 2015. This young man is definitely one to watch in future major competitions, with a hugely anticipated successful professional career ahead of him.

Fans are hyped about what's to come from these Freeride Mountain Biking, Skateboarding and BMX athletes and EXTREME is stoked to be backing them. These new ambassadors will be an addition to EXTREME's team of current athletes, performers and artists who get direct access to leading trends and classified info.

Notes to editors For further details, please contact: Anne Powys-Keck anne@pro-pr.co.uk

About EXTREME EXTREME has pioneered action sports content since 1999 and has grown to be a leading lifestyle brand: Unapologetic, irreverent and anti- establishment, EXTREME is a very well known lifestyle brand with serious attitude fuelled by non-conformity, creativity and experimentation. Its fans are the young alternative trendsetters who influence the wider youth market. They have a deep understanding and connection with their fans. The fans know EXTREME. EXTREME know them.

What sets the brand apart is that it enables partner brands to tap into EXTREME's existing flow of ongoing marketing activities and brand presence that is driven by its growing array of marketing initiatives which deliver significant and guaranteed reach. It drives and invests in 80 sponsored ambassadors, 65+ annual events; social media, Extreme TV, Extreme.com, PR, consumer insights and trend led creative assets. All of these support its partners and help drive sales of products and experiences.

Freeride Mountain Biking (FMB) This thrilling form of biking, which includes both racing and stunt competitions, is characterised by spectacular tricks, awesome style and challenging technical trail features. FMB has quickly become recognised as one of the most popular forms of mountain biking and attracts enormous numbers of participants and fans around the world.

Skateboarding Driven by the intensity, passion and outright skill of the athletes involved, skateboarding has grown phenomenally over the last ten years. Eleven million people regularly take part in this exciting, highly creative activity, which is set to become part of the Olympic programme in Tokyo 2020.

BMX racing An art-form in itself, competitive BMX (bicycle motocross) racing has boomed over the last decade, and was the most recent cycling sport to be added to the Olympic Games. Energy-fuelled, and with enormous technical ability, the talented riders take part in high speed races and perform tough, gravity-defying stunts.