A skateboarder who was born in Bonteheuwel recently broke two world records and was acknowledged by the Guinness World Records organisation.
Jean-Marc Johannes now holds the title for the most skateboard 360 frontside spins in 30 seconds (7) and the most consecutive skateboard ollies (323).
Johannes says he feels great after breaking the records.
“It was a dream of mine to achieve this feat and I am grateful for the team of Guinness who came here to help me achieve this goal,” says Johannes. According to a statement on Guinness’ website Johannes attempted his records on the same day, one after the other. But not before they had to abandon the first attempts because of bad weather.
Almost rained out
“He originally planned to attempt them in one of his favourite skate parks in the world, Battery Park in Cape Town. However, on the day of Jean-Marc’s official attempts, the weather was less than ideal. In fact, the rainfall was so heavy that the attempt could not go ahead as planned. Skating on wet or damp ground can affect the bearings of a skateboard and reduce their efficiency, making it extra hard to break a record. Additionally, such conditions can be extremely unsafe,” reads the statement.
In order to get Johannes to attempt the records, everyone moved into an empty underground parking.
“Jean-Marc got off to a quick start and maintained a strong pace, balancing speed with precision. If any of the spins were even a single degree below 360, they wouldn’t be counted.”
After half a minute had passed, adjudicator Sofia signalled the end of the record attempt.
“However, she didn’t reveal the result straight away. Instead, Jean-Marc would first have to complete his next record attempt for the most consecutive skateboard ollies. An ollie is the first trick most skaters learn. Quite simply, it is a jump into the air executed by stamping on the skateboard’s tail end.
“However, after the 47th ollie, disaster struck as Jean-Marc mistimed the landing and fell over, bringing his first attempt to an end.”
He was allowed two more tries to break the record.
International acclaim
Johannes who is sponsored by sports shoe giants Adidas, also recently returned from Switzerland where he competed in the FISE World Tour.
“I claimed two international podiums for South Africa. I achieved first place in the best trick section and third place in the open park section. I now currently hold the most world records and international medals in South African skateboarding history,” says Johannes.
Johannes says he is looking forward to breaking more records and win more competitions, but mostly he wants to inspire people.
“I want to inspire the youth to be the best that they can be in whatever it is that they do,” he says.
