A British gymnast has wowed the public by breaking a world record Spider-Man would be proud of.
Ashley Watson, who won silver on the parallel bars at the 2016 British Championships, earned his latest award by hurling himself nearly six metres through the air at Leeds Gymnastics Club.
Watson, 26, posted a video of his achievement to Instagram with the caption: “My official Guinness World Records attempt! ‘The farthest backflip between horizontal bars’ 5.87m! #OfficiallyAmazing.”
“It was amazing, I didn’t realise I had caught it until I was swinging around on the other bar,” Watson was quoted by the BBC as saying.
“I caught it on the sixth attempt but I let my legs bend a bit – so I couldn’t let that one go out on film.”
Watson’s latest achievement didn’t come easy, the gymnast taking eight attempts to stick a landing he was happy with.
Were the Olympic Games to embrace the long-distance flip as an event, Watson would be nailed on for gold.
