FLIPPING ’ECK
Brit gymnast sets 19ft World Record flip between bars
A GYMNAST has backflipped himself 19 feet through the air - to land a Guinness World Record.
Daredevil Ashley Watson propelled himself the length of three double beds from one set of bars to another.
The 26-year-old spun around the first bar three times to build momentum up before backflipping twice over to the other bar.
Ashley, who has been in the Great Britain gymnastics squad since the age of 15, succeeded on his eighth try.
He has now been awarded the Guinness World Record for the ‘longest backflip between two horizontal bars’ for the 5.79m feat at Leeds Gymnastic Club, West Yorks.
He said: “It’s a nice feeling to be a world record holder of something.”
Ashley, who has competed on the parallel and high bars at the British and European Championships, said he dreamt up the idea when he was “messing about” during training.
The gymnast said: “At the start they were only three metres apart and that was pretty easy.
“I went for it at about six metres and managed to nail it – I was ecstatic.”