Evel Knievel at Caesar's Palace

GREAT music video featuring Evel footage! http://youtu.be/n2PXzIpvJc4

While in Las Vegas, Nevada, to watch Dick Tiger fight a middleweight title fight, Knievel first saw the fountains at Caesar's Palace and decided to jump them. To get an audience with the casino's CEO Jay Sarno, Knievel created a fictitious corporation called Evel Knievel Enterprises and three fictitious lawyers to make phone calls to Sarno. Knievel also placed phone calls to Sarno claiming to be from ABC-TV and Sports Illustrated inquiring about the jump. Sarno finally agreed to meet Knievel and the deal was set for Knievel to jump the fountains on December 31, 1967. After the deal was set, Knievel tried to get ABC to air the event live on Wide World of Sports. ABC declined, but said that if Knievel had the jump filmed and it was as spectacular as he said it would be, they would consider using it later.

Knievel used his own money to have actor/director John Derek produce a film of the Caesar's jump. To keep costs low, Derek used his then-wife, Linda Evans, as one of the camera operators. It was Evans who filmed Knievel's famous landing. On the morning of the jump, Knievel stopped in the casino and placed a single $100 dollar bet on the blackjack table, which he lost, stopped by the bar and got a shot of Wild Turkey and then headed outside where he was joined by several members of the Caesar's staff, as well as two scantily clad showgirls. After doing his normal pre-jump show and a few warm up approaches, Knievel began his real approach. When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate. The sudden loss of power on the takeoff caused Knievel to come up short and land on the safety ramp which was supported by a van. This caused the handlebars to be ripped out of his hands as he tumbled over them onto the pavement where he skidded into the Dunes parking lot. As a result of the crash, Knievel received a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days.

• Category

  Sports

[CaliforniaVolante]

he made 300 extreme jumps. 276 were successful.

this jump here is important because he broke so many bones no one thought he'd be able to walk again let alone ride, but he did ride again. many many times.

just shows how badass and relentless his drive was. a true pioneer.

[Roger Martinez]

Like si estas aqui por el precio de la historia.

[XxDevineSorrowxX]

lol!

[skysamfreeman]

00:31 'Maybe I should get a puppy.'

[Mike Glasswell]

00:27 'did i turn off the iron?'

[reyesdemetrius]

No fear

[Jeff Clark]

Say what you will about my boy kenevil,but he had BALLS!!! He started it all as far as I'm concerned.

[iCrazyShooter]

Very realistic ragdoll physics!

[Larisa Golubovska]

That bike was heavy and no wonder evel crashed so much since he was riding a 300 pound harley bike

[Larisa Golubovska]

That bike was heavy an evel mostly crashedbe

[Bryan Allen]

Yea this is true.But also true was that back in his day bikes were a lot heavier than today's.You put a young Evel of say 25 years of age on one of today's bikes & who's to say.But we will never know just how far he could jump.Besides, he was more famous for his wrecks than he was for the ones he came up short on.lol