Romanian harmed in Red Bull flying contest
A Romanian woman broke her back in a freak accident at the Red Bull Flugtag competition in Bucharest yesterday (Sun).The 26-year-old was part of a team who made a piano-like flying machine which was pushed off a six-metre drop above the Dambovita River running through the Romanian capital.Her back was fractured after the object failed to fly but plunged straight into the water, according to a report by the Romanian Times.It was the third time a Red Bull Flugtag has taken place in the city.Vienna most recently hosted an edition of the popular event which has drawn hundreds of thousands of people across the world in September 2008.Its goal is to fly as far as possible with home-made machines. More than 40 teams participated in Vienna two years ago. A jury of celebrities pick the winner after rating creativity as well as the distance the self-created object covers.Every flying object – whatever it looks like – has to be lighter than 120 kilograms without the pilot who is supported by up to four “ground staff” team members who push it over the edge of the starting ramp.The event series has been created and organised by Salzburg-based energy drinks producer Red Bull.The firm headed by billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz also sponsors hundreds of athletes all over the world including windsurfing champion Robbie Naish and skiing ace Lindsey Vonn.Red Bull owns football clubs in Austria (Red Bull Salzburg), Germany (RB Leipzig) and in the United States (New York Red Bulls). The company also runs youth academies in Brazil and Ghana.International market research agency Millward Browns study of the most powerful firm brands in the world listed Red Bull in 82nd place earlier this year. Internet firm Google topped the list ahead of IT companies IBM and Apple.