Japanese teenager leaps into record books with impressive jump rope feat

Jump rope is more than a schoolyard activity for Kirato Hidaka – it’s a way into the Guinness World Record books.

The 15-year-old secured a record by successfully completing a jump rope octuple under, a trick that requires the jumper to swing the rope around himself eight times on a single leap. The prior record was a septuple under.

It took Hidaka 50 minutes and around 28 attempts to finally land the trick at a gymnasium in front of enthusiastic supporters and Ehime Jump Rope Association judges on Monday, which was his birthday.

Hidaka is from Yamaguchi in southwestern Japan and started practicing jump rope when he was in the fifth grade. 

“I learned that even if I’m not good at something, I can achieve results if I work hard at it,” Hidaka said, via Asia News Network. “I want to continue practicing my skipping.”