Dave Mirra, BMX star and extreme sports icon has died aged 41

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater may have been the de facto standard when it comes to trick/extreme sport titles, but Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX was still pretty great.

It certainly had all the trappings of a great game: enjoyable gameplay; it was accessible but offered a high skill ceiling; and its soundtrack was… ahem… sublime.

Sadly, we’ve received the rather sad news that the game’s star and all round extreme sports icon, Dave Mirra, has passed away at the age of 41.

Reports state an attempted suicide, but that’s not something we want to fixate on. Instead, we’re recalling all of the hours of fun we had with the Freestyle BMX series.

The pro BMX biker lent his name to the series at the prime of his career, having achieved more medals at the X Games than very nearly anyone else – winning at least one medal in almost every year between 1995 and 2009.

He’s also known for competing any number of Ironman competitions, endurance racers, bicycle marathons and even rally car driving.

We so often miss a celebrity following their death, not because we knew them but that we saw ourselves in their work, their accomplishments.

Dave Mirra was not a personal buddy of ours, but did what he enjoyed, what he loved, and we should strive for much the same thing.

That said, a true friend of Dave Mirra’s did have something to say, and he befittingly starred in another game we cherished as kids.

Goodbye Dave Mirra, a true pioneer, icon and legend. Thank you for the memories… we are heartbroken. pic.twitter.com/RHpTe7Qzwi

— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) February 5, 2016