SOUTHAMPTON: British inventor of a flying jet suit, Richard Browning has smashed three track-inspired Guinness World Records during the “Anker Speed Challenge” held at Southampton Athletics Centre in England.
Guinness said Browning’s first event involved setting a record for the fastest 100-meter dash in a body-controlled, jet-engine-powered suit, finishing in 7.69 seconds. He unofficially beat Usain Bolt’s analog 100-meter time of 9.58 seconds.
Browning next took on the record for fastest 400-meter hurdles in a body-controlled, jet-engine-powered suit, which required him to clear each hurdle in a definite up-and-down motion. He finished with a time of 42.06 seconds — beating the unassisted human version of the record, which stands at 46.87 seconds.
The final challenge was inspired by the pole vaulting event: the fastest time to clear an elevated crossbar in a body-controlled, jet-engine-powered suit. The bar was set at 20.3 feet — .39 inches higher than the world record for highest pole vault. Browning set the record with a time of 13.09 seconds, UPI reported.
“A couple of years ago we set the speed record in this equipment, and in fact that was beating a record we’d set with Guinness World Records a few years before then. Speed is a core ingredient of what we do here, and it’s a pleasure to come along and set more records,” Browning told Guinness.
