From riding kiddie dirt bikes in Kerang, Australia, to becoming one of the most decorated FMX riders on the planet, Jarryd McNeil has been shredding since day one.
The Early Years
Jarryd McNeil was born in 1991 on a farm in Kerang, Australia. He says he was first put on a bike when he was about two and a half. Long before many kids can even handle a bike with training wheels, Jarryd was already throttling down the road.
In school, he was “not the best student” and had plenty of run-ins with the principal. He found the place where he belonged out on his dirt bike, though, and the local tracks became a second home for him. It didn’t take him long to begin to make a name for himself. He won his first motocross medal at age 9. He continued to compete in bigger and bigger tournaments as he grew, quickly becoming an Australian phenom. He also built and designed his own tracks for fun as a teenager.
X Games Takeover – The Most Insane Whips Ever Seen
At age 19, he received an invitation to the X Games and came to the United States. His performance in the 2010 Best Whip competition (where he earned a silver medal) would show the world the trick that he would become best known for: the tailwhip.
Jarryd’s distinctive tailwhips would become an X Games fixture. Every year, fans could look forward to Jarryd blasting off the ramp, sending his bike backwards, and almost turning himself upside down before righting the bike with his trademark style. It’s a move that always looks like it’s going to result in a gnarly wreck before Jarryd beings it back around and somehow stomps the landing.
Here’s a look at the accolades he collected in his first years:
- 2009 – Red Bull X-Ray Freestyle – 3rd
- 2009 – Red Bull X-Ray Speed & Style – 1st
- 2010 – Dew Tour Best Whip – 1st
- 2010 – X-Games Best Whip – 2nd
- 2011 – X-Games Best Whip – 3rd
- 2012 – X-Games Best Whip – 2nd
- 2013 – ASA Moto-X Championship Tour – 2nd
- 2013 – Dirt Shark Biggest Whip – 3rd
Jarryd is the most dominant Best Whip champ ever. He has ten 10 medals in all in the category, including five golds, three silvers, and two bronzes.
He also has taken on quarter pipes, although he said in 2020 that they had become difficult following a crash in 2017. He has a number of fifth and sixth-place finishes in that event.
He’s outstanding in at step-ups, though. Step-ups are the motocross equivalent of a high jump over a pole. Here he is taking the gold at the 2018 X Games in Minneapolis, clearing a jump at a height of 43 feet even! To date, he has earned four Step Up gold medals.
All told, if Jarryd gets one more gold medal in any category, he’ll move ahead of Travis Pastrana for the most Moto X golds in X Games history – truly elite company. For Aussie riders, he is also tied for second most medals all time (Rob Adelberg has the most at 16). In short, he is one of the most decorated athletes in the sport. He’s also still working hard at it, as we saw in the recent 2024 Moto X best whip competition, where he took sixth.
Nitro Boost
In 2014, Jarryd first joined Travis Pastrana’s Nitro Circus crew, becoming part of the live show tour. He’s been a regular there ever since, and he usually treats fans to a sick whip at maximum height.
The Bumps Along the Way
Along the way, Jarryd has celebrated many good times on and off the track – like the birth of his son Ryatt Ian McNeil on Oct. 2, 2021, with wife Kelsey Abbott. But extreme athletes almost always have to deal with a few injury setbacks as they make their way through their careers. Jarryd is no different, suffering a lacerated liver, a posterior hip dislocation, and an ACL tear among his most significant injuries. Sadly, the low moments have included the death of a close friend, Jayo Archer, who unfortunately died during a training accident in February of 2024 (may he rest in peace).
Ultimately, Jarryd has been able to bounce back and fly higher than ever, no matter what life has thrown at him.
Ahead on the Track
Fans of Jarryd can catch him at Nitro Circus live events and at the Summer X Games. In 2026, this may be a bit different. X Games is launching a new X Games league format where athletes will be part of teams and participate in multiple events across a few months of each season. Summer X will not include Moto X for 2026, so fans will have to wait for more details to find out the next event where McNeil can rev up a motor.
To learn more about what goes through his mind when he’s forty feet in the air on a motorbike, you can catch him in the first episode of Season 2 of The Team Ignition Show, hosted by extreme sports legend, Selema Masekela.
