An amazing wheelchair jump

You’ve heard of extreme sports, but how about WCMX? This is a sport where people ride wheelchairs and do jumps and tricks. Listen to teenager Lily explain how she did an amazing jump.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

I’m Lily Rice, I’m 13 years old and I ride WCMX. WCMX stands for ‘wheelchair motocross’ and it involves riding a wheelchair in a skatepark. You ride a wheelchair like a BMXer would ride a BMX or a skateboarder would ride a skateboard or a scooterer would ride a scooter.

When did you start?

I started riding in early March and we just, like, stayed on a few banks, which are basically just like small hills, going up and down. But as my confidence increased, I started to try bigger ramps and I eventually did, like, a small quarter pipe which (was), like, two foot. And I felt so happy when I did that. But now me looking back on that, I’m like, that’s nothing compared to what I’m doing now.

How did you do the backflip?

The backflip wasn’t really a target. We kind of just arrived in the skatepark and I was like, ‘I want to try a backflip!’ I practised into a foam pit first, which is like, it’s just a big ramp going up into, like, a pit of foam, basically. It kind of describes itself. And we moved on to a resi ramp, which is a … normal ramp made for bikes and tricks. Once I landed it, I was, like, really happy. I was ecstatic and I screamed.

It’s different to what other people are doing. I pull up to a skatepark, people are like, ‘Why is there a wheelchair here?’ And then I put my helmet on, do, like, one of the ramps and they’re like, ‘Oh my god!’

I’d like to try a front flip, now that I can do a backflip. No woman has ever done a front flip, so I’d be the first one to do that.

What is the future of WCMX?

Skateboarding’s going into the Olympics next year. And I really hope WCMX can go into the Paralympics as well. I want to inspire others and show people that you can do whatever you want. You just have to put your mind to it.