12/07/2023 10:01 pm (current 12/07/2023 10:01 pm)
Instagram/Ken Stornes ©Ken is the “last Viking”.
Norwegian athlete sets new world record in death dive, while world record for highest cliff jump remains unmatched.
Ken Stornes, a Norwegian athlete who calls himself “the Viking,” set a new world record in “death diving” or “dødsing” with a fearless 40.5-meter leap into an icy fjord. This extreme athlete, known for his daring jumps, often with two axes in his hands, took his skills to a new level.
A true daredevil
On his Instagram profile, full of videos of his daring jumps, he shows himself to be a true daredevil. In a recently released video, he performed this record-breaking jump without axes, likely for safety reasons.
Instead, he threw a rock into the water before jumping in to break the surface tension and soften the impact.
Extreme form: “Death Plunge”
The “death dive” is an extreme form of high diving in which you jump with your arms outstretched and belly first. With his latest jump, Stornes claims to have set a world record in this discipline.
He holds the world record for cliff diving
It is important to note that the world record for the highest cliff jump is held by another extreme athlete. Lazaro Schaller set this up on August 4, 2015, when he jumped 58.8 meters from the Cascada del Salto waterfall in Switzerland.
This jump, which accelerated his body to more than 120 kilometers per hour and ended with a loud crash into the waters of the Riale Salto river, was recognized as a world record for cliff jumping. Schaller, who has dual Brazilian and Swiss citizenship, covered the almost 60 meters in just over 3.5 seconds. For comparison purposes: the normal height for cliff diving competitions, such as Red Bull Cliff Diving, is on average 27 meters. (VOL.AT)