Javier Zapata

Who is Javier Zapata?

Javier Humberto Zapata Cuartas is a Colombian biketrial rider who performs the sport of biketrial, a sport that is little known internationally but very popular in Colombia. Zapata is arguably the sport's most visible performer. He was a professional road cyclist from 1993 to 2000.

Zapata was the first person to get a biketrial bike in Colombia, which was specially manufactured for him by the GT manufacturing company there. Having been an expert BMX racer, Zapata, who placed 5th at the BMX world championships once and ran at BMX tournaments for eight years, quickly became used to the new type of bike he was riding, and decided to dedicate himself to promote his new sport in Colombia.

Zapata then toured all over Colombia, performing at multiple shows and earning money for each of his presentations. His stunts impressed many; he would use some of the first money he used to travel to Spain, where he came in fifth place at biketrial's first world championship. Later on, he went to Barcelona, where he entered the Guinness Book of Records by using his bike to climb the stairs of the tallest building of that city all the way to the top, without ever using his feet. Zapata later on travelled to Japan, where he once again climbed the stairs of some buildings with his bike, without using his feet.