Background
Ailo was born in Tromsø to parents Mikkel Aslaksen Gaup and author Laila Stien and grew up there and in Máze (Masi) in Kautokeino municipality.
Ailo was born in Tromsø to parents Mikkel Aslaksen Gaup and author Laila Stien and grew up there and in Máze (Masi) in Kautokeino municipality.
Gaup originally started his career competing in motocross, but switched to FMX competitions. He announced his retirement in October 2009. His family moved to Alta when Ailo was fourteen years old.
As a ten-year-old he sold fish and painted houses to be able to buy a mini-motorcycle and began motorcross cycling.
As a sixteen-year-old, he moved to the capital of Oslo to enroll in the motorcross line at The Norwegian College of Elite Sport in Bærum. Today, Ailo lives in Kongsberg, where he has been located since 2000.
In 2002 Ailo entered his first international freestyle motocross contest and ended up second overall at his first World Cup contest. Ailo was the first European to perform a backflip on a motorcycle, in 2003.
He was also the first European do long distance backflips, a year later.
In November 2004 Ailo invented the Underflip, which is a sideways flip on a motorcycle. lieutenant took almost two years until anyone else was able to perform this trick. The Underflip has later been copied by riders all over the world.
He has stated that in spite of his profession, he is scared of heights.
As many of his relatives, Ailo has also done some acting. He played Ryzard, a gymnast in a small circus in the movie "Dobbel Salto" in 2005.
He also plays the young version of the main character Eivind, in "Jernanger".