Skateboarder Shatters Downhill Speed Record

A Spanish skateboarder just pushed his sport into highway-speed territory. Diego Poncelet, 27, has earned honors by Guinness World Records for the fastest downhill skateboard speed while standing, hitting 94.34mph on a closed public road in Quebec's Charlevoix region, reports UPI. Poncelet chose the same stretch of Route des Eboulements where the previous record was set.

Poncelet's first test run clocked in at 91.27mph, enough to beat the old mark of 91.17mph, but he held off on an official attempt until weather conditions improved. Five days later, on Sept. 22, he made the record run. Speaking to sponsor Red Bull, Poncelet said he hadn't wanted to admit his true goal—93mph—adding that only after surpassing it did he feel "completely ecstatic."

Poncelet tells the Athletic that he feels a "sense of calm" when speeding so fast down the slope. "It's like a high-consequence meditation," he notes. "It's only when I stand up a little bit that I realize how fast I'm going ... the wind hits you with incredible violence." He adds that "fear is part of the fun," and even "beautiful." "I think the gesture of extreme sports is to be able to transform it into a fire that you have inside you that pushes you further than your own limits," he says.