Back flip in a wheelchair -world
record set by Aaron Fotheringham
LAS VEGAS, USA -- Aaron Fotheringham, 16, competed
a back flip in a wheelchair in front of a crowd of more than
300 at Doc Romeo Park, setting a new world record.
Photo:To achieve the trick, Fotheringham,
rolled down a skatepark ramp to generate enough speed. He
then went up another ramp and landed his flip on flat ground.
/ Photo Stephen R. Sylvanie
(enlarge
photo)
"It feels awesome to get this," said Fotheringham,
16, who performed the flip before the Vegas AmJam skatepark
competition.
He first completed the trick in 2006, and has
dozens of videos of his backflips, but had yet to make it
official.
"I think it's fantastic," his mother, Kaylene
Fotheringham, said. "So often we said 'we think he is the
first one,' but today we know he has the world record."
Aaron Fotheringham, 16 (b. 1991)
has Spina Bifida and has been using wheelchairs and crutches
since the age of 3. But that does not stop him from being
the world’s premier extreme athlete. On wheelchairs, no less.
His unofficial record is six back flips in a
row, however, he could not get consecutive flips Oct. 25.
Completing the trick requires perfect judgment
of speed and concentration, he said. Approaching the ramp
too fast or too slow could result in a nasty spill on the
pavement.
Aaron Fotheringham has been a sponsored
athlete through Colours
Wheelchair since he was 12 years old.
The
Colours Wheelchair company makes the most innovative
manual wheelchairs and wheelchair accessory items on the market.
Aaron Fotheringham: FIRST backflip
in wheelchair Video