This 39-year-old retired high jumper can leap so high he might be an antelope in disguise
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
This is either one of two things: Retired Swedish Olympic high jumper Stefan Holm showing his ludicrous hops, or a gazelle that has transferred its jumping prowess into a human being. This should not be possible.
Holm is 5’11. From this video we can see that the bar of his hurdle is just below his chin. The average height of a male human head is 8.4 inches. This means that Holm is jumping 63.8 inches vertically on each hurdle. To put this in comparison:
- Spud Webb had a vertical of 42 inches at his dunking prime.
- LeBron James has a vertical of approximately 40 inches.
- Chris Conley of the Chiefs set the NFL combine record in 2015 with a vertical of 45.0 inches.
Look, we know there’s a BIG difference between a standing vert and a running jump, but despite all this you have to admit that a 63.8 hurdle is ludicrously impressive at any age, let alone 39.
(h/t Business Insider)
