Motocross Star Dies Practicing His Famous Stunt

A motocross star who was the first to pull off a triple backflip in competition has died while practicing the move, reports ESPN. Jordan "Jayo" Archer, 27, crashed in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Only three people are known to have executed a triple backflip on a dirt bike, and Archer was the first to do so in competition back in 2022, per the Guardian. You can watch the moment here, which occurred at the Nitro World Games in Brisbane. After the feat, he grabbed a microphone and proposed to his girlfriend.

"This really hit home," peer Travis Pastrana tells ESPN. "He'd get up every morning at 4am and go to the gym before work so he could ride his dirt bike. When he came to Maryland to train, he stayed at my house and was an incredible role model to my kids." An interview Archer gave immediately after the 2022 milestone meshes with that: "This is so much more than a competition and a trick to me," he said, per People. "I've dedicated my whole life for the last three years doing this. ... I've had a lot of obstacles, a lot of broken bones, a lot of knockouts, but I tell you what, I would do it 100 times over to relive that again." (More extreme sports stories.)