Christopher injured in fall at X Games California
Lake High School graduate Marcus Christopher is home and recovering after a scary fall during a BMX Park event at X Games California on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Christopher, who turned pro at 13 and is one of the top BMX riders in the United States, suffered a broken jaw and multiple facial fractures when he overshot his landing spot on a transfer and crashed face-first to the ground.
Christopher’s father, Matt, and brother, Charlie, were watching live on ESPN2 from home when the accident happened.
“I know a lot of the riders so I know their voices, and you could hear them yelling, ‘Wake up, Marcus!’” said Matt Christopher, whose wife, Lori, was in attendance at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. “He was knocked out for quite a while. That was terrible.”
Marcus Christopher was taken to a California hospital, where tests for brain and spine injuries came back negative. He was released after about five hours and flew back to Ohio on Sunday morning with his mother.
“First I’d like to thank everyone that reached out to me or my family,” Marcus Christopher said on his Instagram account. “I went down hard on a transfer I had done a few times in practice. Ended up with a broken jaw and multiple facial fractures.”
Christopher went on to congratulate all the medal winners at the X Games, adding, “Looking forward to riding with you guys again soon!”
Christopher was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday at Aultman Hospital. His father says Marcus’ jaw will be wired shut for about two weeks. If all goes well, the 5-foot-6, 160-pound Christopher could be back on the bike in six weeks.
“His attitude is this is what I do, it’s action sports and it’s part of it,” Matt Christopher said. “Most of those kids have a crazy bone in their body or something that is different than most of us. We found that out with Marcus when he was very young, and that’s why we allowed him to keep doing that type of thing. He’s a small guy. He’s not like me and Charlie. He was the kid doing the double backflips on the trampoline. It’s always been in his blood.”
Matt Christopher is a former Lake football great who went on to play linebacker at Ohio State. He was listed at 6foot-3, 227 pounds during his playing days. Charlie Christopher started at linebacker on Lake’s regional finalist football team last season as a 6-foot, 206-pound sophomore and has garnered scholarship offers from Ball State and Bowling Green.
Marcus didn’t get the size of his father and brother, but he got their athletic ability.
He currently stands as the No. 1 BMX Park rider in the United States and the No. 2 rider in the world by Union Cycliste Internationale’s World Cup standings.
He is in line to be one of two riders to represent the United States at next summer’s Olympics in Paris.
At X Games Japan in May, he placed third to earn the bronze, his first X Games medal.
Matt Christopher called it a “stressful and tiring two days here” but said his family has been touched at the outpouring of support and concern for Marcus.
“He started riding a bike when he was 4-years-old, went to freestyle when he was 9 and the only injury he’s had before this was a small fracture in his hand when he was 14,” Matt Christopher said. “So we’ve kind of been blessed that way.”
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