Jalyessa Walker Backflips To World Record

Jalyessa Walker knows backflips, and now she may have the world record to prove it.

Jalyessa Walker’s backflips may not seem like a great feat of sporting prowess — until you realize that in order to earn the honor, the hand springs champion did very, very nearly 50 of the flippity flops in a row to achieve backflipping greatness.

Jalyessa Walker backflips set a record at 49, but the University of Texas at El Paso cheerleader (who graduated in May) was all set to go up to 50 — she just thought she was about to land on the concrete and had to stop.

According to the El Paso Times, UTEP cheerleader Jalyessa Walker’s backflips and record-breaking attempt is likely to have broken one set just a month ago:

“Walker, 23, readied herself in front of a roaring crowd at the Sun Bowl during halftime of the UTEP-Rice football game to break the record set in October by a 16-year-old Texas high school cheerleader, Miranda Ferguson. The record still remains at 35 backflips until the new one is accepted … As the crowd of 20,382 counted along, the former University of Texas at El Paso cheerleader flipped her way from one end of the field to the other, past the end zone, and onto concrete before stopping.”

Walker explains of her feat:

“I wish I didn’t run out of room so I could have done 50 … As soon as I hit the concrete, I was starting to get tired and scared because I didn’t want to fall.”

Whether Jalyessa Walker’s backflips truly break the record remains to be seen — the clip below of the attempt has been submitted to Guinness so they can decide whether the UTEP cheerleader, now in the Army, has officially earned the backflipping honors.