Talk about a Mother’s Day gift to remember! In a world’s first, German freestyle motocross star Luc Ackermann and his mom Melitta have made history after they performed the first-ever mother-son motorcycle backflip, soaring approximately eight meters high and 13 meters across.

The concept for the tandem jump originated from none other than Luc’s 55-year-old mom. “The idea came from my mother herself, who has always wanted to do a backflip with me onto a real landing since her 50th birthday,” explained the Freestyle champ. Melitta’s wish came as a shock to Luc, as his mom can’t watch him compete on the global FMX circuit. “I can’t watch!” she says. “I can only look when the event is over, and I know nothing has gone wrong!”

Melitta, who operates a nursery alongside Luc’s father Dirk, executed the backflip with her son in the village of Niederdorla, Germany for Mother’s Day. Before the leap, Luc conducted intensive preparations, including thousands of jumps on his KTM. He also specially made footrests that provided additional stability for his special passenger. Prepping also involved teaching his mom how to grab the handlebars and squeeze the tank with her legs, among other body position techniques.

It ended up being an unforgettable Mother’s Day gift. After flying through the air with her son, Melitta revealed: “It was an incredible experience – I wouldn’t do it again, though. But I realized that Luc had everything under control at all times.”

And she was definitely in great hands. Luc, 25, first gained attention at the age of 12 as the youngest athlete to execute a motorcycle backflip. He has accomplished notable feats throughout his career, including the “youngest motorcycle double backflip of all time” in 2017 and securing the title of youngest FIM European FMX Champion at Night of The Jumps in 2018. Ackermann’s success continued in 2021 with victories in FMX at the X Games in Encinitas, California, and back-to-back wins at Night of The Jumps in 2021 and 2022.

After safely landing the backflip with his mom, Ackerman was overwhelmed with happiness. “We did the world’s first mother-son flip. Together with my mom, I jumped a backflip over this setup, which is incredible. Yes, I’m still quite nervous now because it was really exciting for me. The crazy thing about this whole story is that my mom has never watched me ride before. She would only watch TV reports or videos when she knew everything went well. And now she decided to do a backflip with me. Well, I don’t really understand the world, but I think it’s super, super cool! She trusted me a lot, and that naturally gave me an even better feeling. I’m really proud of her for doing it today, and I can’t put it into words.”

Photos by Thomas Dietze / Red Bull Content Pool