SEOUL, South Korea (GroundReport) – According to published reports, a professional tightrope walker from China zipped along a wire strung across the Han River in just under 11 minutes to win Seoul’s second international high-wire championship.
Yakefujiang Maimitili, competing on the second day of the three-day contest, beat 26 other competitors in traversing the three-quarter-mile-long wire to claim the $20,000 prize, reports The Associated Press.
Colombia’s Alan Martinez came in second place with a time of 11 minutes, 23 seconds. Last year’s winner, Abudusataer Wujiabudula of China, finished in 11 minutes, 28 seconds, for third place.
Maimitili, 20, said he has been a tightrope walker since the age of 7, following in his ethnic Uighur family’s tradition in his native Xinjiang in northwestern China: "I was really excited while I was walking on the rope," Maimitili said in an AP report.