British BMX star Kieran Reilly has landed the world’s first triple flair.
The 20-year-old, from Gateshead made history with the record-breaking trick only previously attempted on computer games.
In a clip shared to Instagram Reilly wrote: “I can’t believe it. So so happy to show you all this! You can see how high emotions were just in this video.”
It took Reilly around 20 tries to complete the trick, after first attempting it in May 2021.
The stunt was filmed at an event sponsored by Red Bull at Asylum Skatepark in Nottinghamshire on a specially constructed roll-in and ramp.
During training, changes had to be made to the ramp set-up, including adding another 2ft to the original 10-and-a-half ft tall quarter pipe, making it 12ft 6in (3.81m).
A 6ft (1.83m) extension to the roll-in was also added to facilitate more speed.
Reilly also took up CrossFit in the gym in order to increase his fitness and lost three kilos in a bid to make his rotations faster.
Despite his record-breaking achievement, the young rider revealed there had been times when he struggled even to attempt it.
He said: “On the last day of the first block in May, I was on the roll-in for about four hours and couldn’t even drop in and try one.
“Leaving that trick was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done but I knew that mentally I wasn’t in it.”
He decided to take an eight-month break but admitted that during that time he was “stressing constantly about someone else doing it”.
Having the support of professional BMXers Bas Keep, Matt Jones and Kade Edwards helped him stay positive.
“It’s one of those tricks you can only attempt a couple of times because when you crash, you crash hard,” he said.
“I would spend up to 30 minutes on the roll-in just trying to get pumped up enough.
“It was one of those tricks where I had to try 110% to make sure I was going to do it. A lot of it was mental – just trusting yourself.”
Reilly first came to the attention of global BMX fans aged just 11, when he landed a 720 – two 360 degree spins in one jump – over a spine at the skatepark Unit 23 in Glasgow.
Over the last 12 months, the young rider has positioned himself as the rising star of the British BMX scene.
Now setting his sights on competing in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Reilly will be taking part in Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) events this year.
He also hopes to achieve his goal of appearing in the X Games – an annual extreme sports event organised, produced and broadcast by US channel ESPN.
Reilly said he has no plans to do his record-breaking trick again due to the “sheer stress”, but added “maybe one day with the right set-up”.
“All these insane things I’ve got in my head just seem way more achievable now that I’ve done the triple flair,” he said.
