12-year-old wheelchair motorcross athlete becomes first UK male to land a BACKFLIP

Name: 12-year-old wheelchair motorcross athlete becomes first UK male to land a BACKFLIP
Uploaded: 2022-04-14T12:02:33+00:00
Duration: 1 min 25 s
Channel: SWNS

SWNS

&lt;p&gt;A 12-year-old Brit lad has become the first in UK to perform a backflip in a wheelchair&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Benjamin Sleet was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus and has always used a wheelchair to get around.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He was introduced to wheelchair motor cross (WCMX) aged eight at a skateboard jam event, but his skills really took off when he got his hands on a specialist skate chair.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After just a few months of practising by landing in a foam pit, brave Benjamin just &quot;gave it a go&quot; and landed a backflip at the skate park earlier this month.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He&#x27;s the youngest ever Brit - and the first male from the UK - to pull off the feat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wheelchair motor cross sees athletes perform tricks usually seen in skateboarding and BMX and was invented by Aaron Fotheringham, 30, from Las Vegas.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ben from Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, said: “I was shocked at first and then I felt excited – it wasn’t really scary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“I didn’t know I was going to do it, I just decided I was going to have a go.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“I had a couple of friends there and they were excited for me - I’ve wanted to do it for about a year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“You need loads of speed to be able to flip yourself over – start quite high and go over the edge and push down.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

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