Holy mother of shit this is impressive and also unbelievably terrifying.
Aussie FMX rider Josh Sheehan has made history, becoming the first person in the history of the sport to successfully land a triple – REPEAT: TRIPLE – backflip.
The rider, born and bred in Dannybrook, WA, pulled off the straight Evel Knievel shit at Travis Pastrana‘s Pastranaland compound in the US state of Maryland, on a custom-built ramp that had more than twelve months of planning behind it.
Filming the stunt for Nitro Circus, Sheehan had practiced the trick multiple times beforehand, with a large airbag placed at the foot of the ramp on all test runs, before being removed for the (quite literally) do-or-die main event.
We cannot state this firmly enough. This shit is absolutely NUTS.
For those interested in the particulars of it all: Sheehan hit the 11.3m ramp – built with an incline of 81 degrees – at a speed of around 97km/h, shooting him some 24-odd metres into the air, allowing him enough time and momentum to pull his 200kg bike through three complete vertical axis rotations.
Or in slightly more ‘Strayan terms: He fanged the shit out of his bike and hit the ramp full bore, pithing himself high enough into the air to go triple boonta on it before touching down lighter than a diet zippo.
Travis Pastrana was the first person to ever hit a double backflip, landing back in 2006 at the X Games in Los Angeles.
Sheehan’s feat today sets a new benchmark in the sport.
Onya, legend!
