Extreme Sports
SPORTS
HIGHEST JUMP
ON A POGO STICK
On 15 Oct 2016, Biff
Hutchison (USA)
jumped 11 ft 0.5 in
(3.36 m) into the air- twice the height of
the average human - on a pogo stick in
Burley, Idaho, USA.
His previous record
height of 10 ft 6 in
(3.2 m), shared with
Dalton Smith (USA),
had been matched
by Nic Patiño (USA)
at Pogopalooza 2016
in Swissvale,
Pennsylvania, USA,
on 8 Jul 2016.
LONGEST POWER-ASSISTED BICYCLE BACKFLIP
On 13 Aug 2016, X Games star Kevin “KRob” Robinson took on the bicycle
backflip record in a live ESPN special at Providence in Rhode Island, USA.
To go beyond his target of 64 ft (19.5 m), Robinson had to reach a speed of
43 mph (69.2 km/h) before take-off, which he did with a tow from an all-
terrain vehicle. He was thrown from his bike trying to land his first attempt,
but came back minutes later to nail a monster jump of 84 ft (25.6 m).According to a 2015 report, 100 hours of GoPro action-camera video footage
is uploaded to YouTube every minute.Stopping
a skateboard at
130 km/h demands
incredible balance
and skill. Skateboarders
stand up slowly, spread
their arms and unzip their
suits so that the loose
material acts as a
kind of parachute.Fastest speed in speed skydiving (male)
Developed in the mid-2000s, speed skydiving
requires competitors to leap from a plane in an
attempt to achieve the fastest possible rate of
free fall. On 13 Sep 2016, Henrik Raimer (SWE)
achieved a speed of 601.26 km/h (373.6 mph)
during round 5 of the Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI) World Championships in
Chicago, Illinois, USA. He went on to become
Speed Skydiving World Champion.Farthest hang-gliding
declared goal distance (female)
On 7 Jan 2016, Yoko Isomoto (JPN) guided a
Class 1 Wills Wing T2C hang-glider from Forbes
to Walgett in New South Wales, Australia- a distance of 367.6 km (228.41 mi).
Greatest height gain in a hang-glider (male)
Anton Raumauf (AUT) gained 4,359 m (14,301 ft
2 in) over Burgsdorf and Helmeringhausen in
Namibia on 3 Jan 2016, as ratified by the FAI.Longest pickup-truck ramp jump
On 25 Aug 2016, Bryce Menzies (USA) soared
above a US ghost town in a ramp-to-ramp jump
of 115.64 m (379 ft 4 in). He set the record in a
Pro 2 truck during rehearsals for a TV show at
Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico, USA. For
more ramp-jumping trucks, see pp.208–09.Fastest speed on a
gravity-powered street luge
Mike McIntyre (USA) reached a speed of
164 km/h (101.9 mph) at the L’Ultime Descent
world record speed event in Les Éboulements,
Quebec, Canada, on 10 Sep 2016. McIntyre
beat the 2008 mark of 157.41 km/h (97.81 mph)
set by Canadian Cédric Touchette.Most whitewater rafting
world championships (male)
Victory for the Brazilian men’s team at the 2016
International Rafting Federation (IRF) World
Championships was their sixth in total. They had
also taken gold in 2007, 2009 and 2013–15. Win
number six took Brazil past the legendary Team
Bober of Slovenia, winners of the first five rafting
World Championships in 1 995–99.Fastest 1 km ice swim (male)
Petar Stoychev (BUL) swam 1 km (0.62 mi) in
12 min 15.87 sec at the 2nd Ice Swimming Aqua
Sphere World Championships in Burghausen,
Bavaria, Germany. Judit Wittig (DEU) achieved
the fastest 1 km ice swim (female) in 13 min
13.58 sec at the same event, held on 6 Jan 2017.MOST WINS OF THE MOUNTAINBOARDING
WORLD BOARDERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
In boardercross, mountainboarders race down specifically designed narrow
tracks with plenty of twists and turns. Matt Brind (UK, above, front) has won
the World Boardercross Championship three times, in 2014–16. The only other
man to have won the title is Kody Stewart (USA), in 2013. Stewart finished
runner-up to Brind at the 2016 championship held in Bukovac, Serbia.FASTEST DOWNHILL STANDING SKATEBOARDING
On 31 May 2016, Swedish skateboarding legend Erik Lundberg
set out to beat the existing downhill skateboarding record
speed of 129.94 km/h (80.74 mph). The downhill course, in
Quebec, Canada, was 1 km (0.62 mi) long, with a gradient
reaching a steep 18%. After a few practice runs to learn its
intricacies, Lundberg achieved a speed of 130.63 km/h
(81.16 mph). The key? Staying as still as possible...