SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Freestyle motocross star Ronnie Renner established a world record Friday night when he jumped 59 feet, 2 inches on a quarterpipe on the Santa Monica Pier.
Renner hit the height on his sixth jump in front of an estimated 20,000 people. The figure will be submitted to Guinness World Records for verification.
“I’m totally blown away that I went 59 feet,” said Renner, who was shooting for at least 50 feet. “I can’t believe the fan turnout. Everything was absolutely perfect. The fifth and sixth ones, I was giving it everything I had.”
Renner went just over 54 feet on his third jump, then was just under 53 feet on his fourth attempt. After going just more than 53 feet on his fifth jump, he decided to do a last jump for the crowd.
“All or nothing,” he said. “I knew what I needed to do on the last one, all for the crowd. Way past my goal of 50 feet. I’m just pumped on this. Never jump when they say, ‘One more time.’ But I’m glad I did it — five feet higher and I rode away to talk about it.”
Renner rode up an 18-foot quarterpipe and made a sweeping, 180-degree arc that brought him down onto a landing ramp measuring 25 feet high and 64 feet wide.
It was the third jump in the Red Bull Experiment series, following record-setting performances of fellow motocross rider Robbie Maddison and BMX star Kevin Robinson.
Maddison jumped the length of a football field on New Year’s Eve, clearing 322 feet, 7½ inches at the Rio All-Suite Hotel &Casino in Las Vegas. On June 12, Robinson soared 27 feet above the lip of a huge quarterpipe in New York’s Central Park to set the BMX big air world record.
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