Sixty-one-year-old Canadian Donna Jean Wilde has set a new world record for the duration of a plank, a static exercise for the abdominal and back muscles. At the Huntsman World Senior Games, held in the American state of Utah, she maintained the position for five hours and seven seconds.
With this result, Wilde surpassed her own previous record of four hours, thirty minutes and eleven seconds. The new achievement is reportedly awaiting official confirmation from representatives of the Guinness World Records.
According to Wilde herself, the final part of the attempt proved the most difficult. She said that at one point she was ready to abandon the attempt, but it was the spectators, who supported her unwaveringly, who helped her see it through to the end.
The Canadian's athletic story began more than ten years ago out of necessity. After a wrist injury, she could no longer perform many of her usual exercises and began looking for substitutes. The plank became that substitute. Over time, the exercise became an integral part of her daily training, to which running, skipping rope and other strength workouts were later added.
Donna Jean Wilde is not a professional athlete. She worked as a school principal, raised five children, and now has twelve grandchildren. The plank record is not her only sporting achievement: she previously managed 1,575 push-ups in an hour and now intends to improve that result as well.
The athlete's endurance and physical preparation were confirmed the very next day. On the morning after the five-hour attempt, she lined up at the start of a three-kilometre race.
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