Zion Clark: Africa-American Athlete Without Legs Sets Guinness World Record for Fastest 20m on 2 Hands

Zion Clark: Africa-American Athlete Without Legs Sets Guinness World Record for Fastest 20m on 2 Hands

  • Zion Clark is an African-American athlete and entrepreneur born without legs
  • He has set the Guinness World Record for fastest 20 meters walking on hands
  • Clark attained the feat on February 15, 2021, at his former high school gym in Massillon, Ohio, USA

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African-American athlete and entrepreneur, Zion Clark, has set the Guinness World Record for fastest 20 meters walking on hands on February 15, 2021.

Clark, born without legs due to a rare genetic disorder, successfully finished the fastest 20m walking on hands at his former high school gym at Massillon in Ohio, USA.

After warming up, he took his place at the start line and exploded in a burst of speed, smashing the record in a time of 4.78 seconds, Guinness World Record reported.

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Zion Clark: Africa-American Athlete Without Legs Sets Guinness World Record for Fastest 20m on 2 Hands
Zion Clark: Africa-American Athlete Without Legs Sets Guinness World Record for Fastest 20m on 2 Hands. Photo credit: Zion Clark
Source: Instagram

Announcing the achievement

Clark took to his Instagram page to announce the feat, saying:

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''What a great feeling to be a Guinness World Record Holder! @guinnessworldrecords. Especially considering every school K-12 keeps a copy of this book.
''My goal in life is to inspire kids to be whatever they want to be in life, don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do,'' he said.

Clark's track coach, Olympic Gold Medalist and Guinness World Records title holder, Butch Reynolds, played an essential role in mentally preparing him for the attempt, along with close friends and family who supported him along the way.

Overcoming challenges

Despite being born with Caudal Regression Syndrome, a rare condition characterised by abnormal development of the lower (caudal) end of the spine, he is not allowing it to stop him from achieving his goals.

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Now, he has become a Guinness World Record holder, and he wants to become the first American athlete to compete in both the Olympic (wrestling) and Paralympic (wheelchair racing) games in 2024.

Sian Proctor is First Black Woman to Pilot a Spacecraft

In another success story, Dr Sian Proctor has become the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft after SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Mission successfully launched into space on Wednesday, September 15.

Proctor, a geoscientist, artist, and science communicator, was one of four people in the first-ever all-civilian spaceflight, serving as a mission pilot on Inspiration4.

She made history as the fourth Black woman to travel into space and the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft with the three-day trip circling the earth, the New York Times reports.

Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Nathaniel Crabbe avatar

Nathaniel Crabbe (Human-Interest editor) Nathaniel Crabbe is a journalist and editor with a degree in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where he graduated in 2015. He earned his master's from UPSA in December 2023. Before becoming an editor/writer of political/entertainment and human interest stories at Asaase Radio, Crabbe was a news reporter at TV3 Ghana. With experience spanning over ten years, he now works at YEN.com.gh as a human interest editor. You can reach him via nathaniel.crabbe@yen.com.gh.