Australian freestyle motocross star Jayden "Jayo" Archer, the first person in his sport to perform a triple backflip in competition, has died in a tragic accident. He was 27.
The daredevil was killed while practicing the triple backflip in his native Melbourne.
Archer is one of three people to pull off a triple backflip, and the first to do so in competition.
He proposed to his girlfriend moments after performing the incredible feat at the Nitro World Games in 2022.
In a speech, he described the trials he endured leading up to the amazing moment.
“I cannot describe this feeling. This is so much more than a trick to me. I’ve dedicated my entire life the last three years, to this moment. There were a lot of obstacles and broken bones and knockouts, and I would do it 100 times over to relive that moment again," he said at the time.
Archer was a part of Nitro Circus, an action sports crew founded by motocross great Travis Pastrana, for more than a decade.
"This really hit home," Pastrana told ESPN.
"Jayo grew up in a time when action sports was at its biggest, and he always wanted to do the big stuff like the double and the triple, even though there weren't a lot of places to showcase those bigger tricks. He'd get up every morning at 4 a.m. and go to the gym before work so he could ride his dirt bike."
The X Games called Archer, a two-time X Games medalist, "one of the most committed and charismatic FMX [freestyle motocross] riders."
"We are deeply saddened by Jayo Archer's passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his parents and fiancée," Scott Guglielmino, interim chief operating officer of X Games, said in a statement to ESPN.
The 27-year-old's talent shined early on.
At 15 years of age, he secured a sponsorship deal with Kawasaki after becoming the youngest person on record to land a motorcycle backflip over 75ft.
Archer kept pushing his limit to the very end. He had ambitions to perform the first quadruple backflip in 2024.
The star also had big plans in his personal life, as he and his fiancée, Beth King, were to be wed sometime this year.
