BOING! – Discover Spring-Loaded Stilts...
The spring is one of the earliest simple machines known to man and is now such an integral part of so many devices that it is impossible to imagine a world without them. As well as being there for difficult, grimy, intense and high-pressure work, a task which they admirably rise to, the spring also facilitates FUN and nowhere is this more evident than with spring-loaded stilts. We took a quick BOING! Through the record books to see just how far people could take the craze…
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Fastest Run - there are several records over different distances but surely the most challenging must have been that of a full mile run. This was achieved in the time of just 7m13s and was set by Ashrita Furman of the USA
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Most People Jumping - Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School, based in the Henan Province of China, hold the record for having the most people jumping at a single time on spring-loaded stilts. 103 participants were filmed and it was miraculous that there weren’t far more crashes!
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Highest Jump - it’s surprising just how much power a spring can have and the massive height of 2.76m, just over 9ft, achieved by Lars Oetken of Germany offers ample proof
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Longest Somersault - having not tried the sport, your faithful writer wonders if it is easier or harder to do a somersault wearing the crazy contraption. Whichever, Jesus Villa of Nevada, USA holds the record for the longest at an impressive 6.19m or 20ft and 4in. Jesus took a 30m/100ft run up with 11 strides and, just to add to the spectacle, made his stomach-churning somersault over a Dodge Neon Sedan car
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Most Consecutive Backward Flips - for another stomach-churner, we head back to Henan Province in China, where Yuan Shiwei set the standing record. He managed 25 consecutive flips before walking (or staggering!) off to collect his applause from the audience
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Most Skips in One Minute - Ashrita Furman, who you will remember from the fastest mile record, also holds this one with 145 skips. The event was broadcast live all over the world from Disney in Florida