English pro soccer player controls ball after 111-foot crane drop
Published in Weird News
LONDON (UPI) -- A professional soccer player from England's Premier League set a world record by controlling a ball after a 100-foot crane drop.
Theo Walcott of London's Arsenal F.C. claimed the Guinness World Record for "Highest altitude football dropped and controlled" by bouncing the ball off his foot five times without letting it hit the ground after it was dropped 111 feet from a crane.
Walcott beat teammates Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Francis Coquelin and bested the previous record of 105 feet set by football freestyler John Farnworth.
The players practiced at lower heights before attempting to set the record with an 111-foot drop.
Coquelin almost claimed the record himself before Walcott managed to successfully control the ball by bouncing it in the air five times.
"It looked easy at 25 meters (82 feet) but when the ball was released at 34 meters (111 feet), it was a challenge that surprised the footballers, especially when the ball swerved as it came down," Guinness World Records adjudicator Pravin Patel said. Well done Theo for breaking the record.
Copyright 2016 by United Press International
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