Latest news with #worldrecord
France 24
19 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
O'Callaghan closes on more world gold to banish post-Paris blues
The 21-year-old Australian former world record holder, who has spoken candidly about trying to live up to big expectations, was third-fastest in the heats in 1min 57.04sec. New Zealand's 2024 silver medallist Erika Fairweather was fastest on day three of competition in Singapore in 1:56.54, ahead of Erin Gemmell of the United States (1:56.74). O'Callaghan, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, is red-hot favourite in the event. At the Australian trials last month she became emotional when talking about coming down from the high of the Olympics in the French capital a year ago. "I don't think there's been anything as hard as this, coming here and trying to race and trying to, you know, defend my Olympic status in a way," she said in Adelaide in June. She declined to talk to reporters following her heat on Tuesday in Singapore, where she had helped Australia win 4x100m freestyle relay gold on Sunday for her ninth world title. O'Callaghan is also a gold-medal prospect in the 100m freestyle. O'Callaghan arrived in Paris with her 200m freestyle world record just broken by fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus and under enormous pressure. She rose to the occasion, edging Titmus to win gold. She was also a key part of Australia's 4×100m freestyle and 4×200m freestyle gold-medal winning teams. Titmus is on a season-long break and not competing in Singapore. Also on Tuesday morning, Ireland's Paris Olympics gold medallist and defending world champion Daniel Wiffen reached the final of the men's 800m freestyle eighth-fastest in 7:46.36. Quickest was Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi (7:41.58), with Germany's Lukas Maertens also safely through in 7:45.54. Maertens is chasing a Singapore double after victory in the 400m free. China's 2023 triple world breaststroke champion Qin Haiyang, who reclaimed the 100m title on Monday, had plenty left in the tank to qualify for the 50m semi-finals in 26.98sec. Italy's Simone Cerasuolo was quickest in the heats in 26.42sec. There are five finals later Tuesday, with world record holder Katie Ledecky the overwhelming favourite in the 1500m freestyle. The 28-year-old United States great is chasing a career 22nd world crown.
CBC
a day ago
- Sport
- CBC
Canadian 'bike weirdo' breaks 2 world records on her penny farthing
Social Sharing People who ride penny farthings are weirdos, says Lizanne Wilmot — and she's the fastest weirdo of them all. On New Year's Eve, the Canadian-born cyclist broke the world record for fastest speed on a penny farthing when she hit 41.709 kilometres per hour at the Tasmanian Christmas Carnival in Burnie, Australia, claiming the women's title and beating the men's record, too. Two days prior, at the same event, she broke the women's world record for fastest one kilometre on a penny farthing at one minute and 52.750 seconds. Both rides were hell on her hamstrings, she says, but cruising to victory on her bespoke Victorian-style bicycle was pure joy. "When you're on the penny farthing, you can't help but to smile the entire time," Wilmot told As It Happens guest host Megan Williams. Guinness World Records certified Wilmot's titles this month. A thriving penny farthing community Wilmot, a championship-winning track cyclist and spatial scientist from Brampton, Ont., has plenty of experience riding an ordinary bike. But once she took her first whirl on a penny farthing, she says she was hooked. "It's almost like I've de-evolved," she said. The old-timey bike, also known as a high-wheeler, has a massive front wheel, which the rider sits astride, putting them more than a metre above the ground. They largely fell out of favour in the 1880s with the advent of the modern bicycle. But the quaint style of cycling never disappeared entirely, and Wilmot says there's a thriving penny-farthing scene in Australia, where she's been living since she was 18. "We're bike weirdos," she said. "All you have to do is show interest and you're instantly welcomed, which that's another thing that just makes being around the penny community that much better than being around a regular bike community." A bespoke bike named Tiny The other thing that makes a penny farthing better than a standard bike, she says, is the experience of riding it out in the world. "When you're riding a regular bike, you're kind of out there, you're going fast, you're not really taking things in," she said. "But when you are on a penny, you almost have to slow down and interact with more people, and it just brings you joy." Wilmot rides a custom, 1.2-metre tall penny farthing, built by Australia's Dan Bolwell, a.k.a. "Penny Farthing Dan." She calls it Tiny because it's about 30 centimetres shorter than the average penny farthing. She was astride Tiny when she broke both world records. On Dec. 29, she rode one kilometre 30 seconds faster than the previous record holder, the U.K.'s Julie Woodward. "I was head down, butt up, like just peddling the legs as fast as I could," she said. "I knew that I was going fast, but I didn't know I was breaking the record by that much." On New Year's Eve, when she claimed the record for fastest speed on a penny farthing in the women's category, she also beat Guy Banham's men's record by 0.149 seconds, making her the fastest in the world. She said it was "blowing a gale" that day at the track near Australia's Bass Strait. "Having a bit of a tailwind, I was able to do that second run and just absolutely blow it out of the park," she said. Wilmot is already eyeing her next competitive challenge. But, in the meantime, she'll keep riding Tiny off the racetracks, fielding stares, questions and comments from curious passersby. She's so used to it, she says, that she's developed scripted responses.
France 24
a day ago
- Sport
- France 24
Walsh defies illness in US camp to win butterfly world gold
World record holder Walsh took gold in 54.73sec -- the second-fastest time in history -- ahead of Belgium's Roos Vanotterdijk (55.84) and Alexandria Perkins of Australia (56.33). "I'm so happy, to be under 55 (sec) again is everything. It was not easy and I'm just really proud of myself for that time," said the 22-year-old. "It took a lot of guts. I just wanted to go out here and do it for my team, just represent the flag well. "That race came out of somewhere -- I don't know where. I'm really, really happy," added Walsh, who set the world record of 54.60sec in May. This is Walsh's first long course individual world title and the Olympic silver medallist was clear favourite. She won two relay golds at the Paris Olympics but was pipped to gold in the 100m butterfly final by team-mate Torri Huske in an upset. Huske decided against racing in the 100m butterfly in Singapore amid an outbreak of gastroenteritis in the American squad.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Sorato Shimizu: Teenager breaks 100m world record in 10 seconds
A 16-year-old Japanese sprinter has SMASHED a world record after running a lightning-fast 100m in exactly 10 Sorato Shimizu completed the run at the Inter High School Championships in Japan on runner blazed past his opponents, with second place finishing in 10.27 seconds, almost three-tenths of a second previous world record for under-18s was 10.06 seconds, set by American teen Christian Miller and Puripol Boonson from Thailand in who is Shimizu, and could he be a future Olympic champion? Sorato Shimizu is a 16-year-old teenager from Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, where he goes to school he goes to has a history of producing top-level clocked a rapid 10.37s in the 100m run at last year's high-school championships, and an even faster 10.19s run earlier this July, before smashing the world record this he's lesser known than Australia's teen super-sprinter Gout Gout, who some have tipped to be the next Usain Bolt, Soratos' win has nonetheless turned just 16, he is now the joint-fifth fastest Japanese athlete in history. What next? The future looks bright for the rising achieving a time of 10 seconds, he can qualify for the World Athletics World Championships in September, which are taking place in if he doesn't compete there, Sorato has proved he could be a challenger to rival Gout Gout, and a future Olympian.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Game of Thrones star Hafthor Bjornsson beats Eddie Hall's monstrous deadlift world record as rival posts classy response
HAFTHOR BJORNSSON made weightlifting history by SMASHING former rival Eddie Hall's deadlift record. The 2018 World's Strongest Man winner looked to make history last Sunday with a Herculean 505kg (1111lbs) deadlift. 4 4 4 Bjornsson sought to break the 500kg (1100lbs) record that fellow former WSM winner Hall set in March 2015. The Icelandic giant, who is best known for playing 'The Mountain' in the hit HBO show ' Game of Thrones ', had previously broken the record in 2020. Bjornsson's 501kg lift, however, was disputed by many, including Hall, as he performed it in his own gym and not in a competition setting. But there was no disputing his mammoth 505kg lift at the 2025 Eisenhart Black Competition, which has gone viral. Bjornsson pulled the titanic amount of weight with near-perfect form, barely arching his back and not pausing as he completed the lift. The 36-year-old was mobbed by his pals after the lift, which he took to Instagram to reflect on. He wrote: "505kg WORLD RECORD! History made again." 4 In fact, he was quick to praise Bjornsson for his incredible feat of strength. Posting a video of the lift to his Instagram, Hall wrote: "Massive respect to Thor for making history & setting the official WR at 505kg. "That's one hell of a pull. Records are made to be broken. "Big respect, Big Love The Beast."
