Skipping towards the next hurdle

Bozlur Rahman was perplexed, failing to fathom what special attention his teenage son hoped to garner by skipping rope all day. His confusion turned to joy on January 2, 2021, when Rasel Islam claimed two Guinness World Records.

The first record was for most skips in 30 seconds on one foot (145 skips) and the other for most skips in in one minute (258 skips). That second record has already fallen, but the former still stands.

Rasel, who has been skipping rope since 2017, was undeterred by the attitude of locals, who saw it as a 'girl's sport' and was determined to correct their presumption.

But the journey was not smooth. After disqualification from a national skipping competition in 2017, Rasel trained for six months to improve his hand-eye coordination and muscle endurance before going for the records.

"Since I started practicing for 2-4 hours a day across categories, I grew more determined to do something worthy, but I was unsure of my goals. I found out through the internet that I could attempt to go for a Guinness World Record," Rasel said.

"I ran into problems when I went to their website to fill up the application. Their criteria and language confused me. Fortunately, I found another person who holds a skipping record. He helped me complete the procedures."

Rasel has now set a new goal: to participate in the Junior Olympics, which is going to be held in USA this year.