Among 20 elite athletes, it was Luxembourg's Archie Williams who prevailed as the winner of the 'Slackline King' Championship in central China in the 'Avatar mountains'.
Amidst the breathtaking peaks of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in central China, Archie Williams achieved an incredible feat, competing against athletes from across the globe, including China, France, Brazil, and Argentina.
He completed the 1,000-metre stretch on a two-millimetre-thick slackline in a staggering 14 minutes 54 seconds – roughly 1.1 metres per second – and was crowned 'Slackline King' three minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, Jakub Morawski from Poland.
Having only started slackline in 2020 and high-line in 2021, Williams, 25, who was born and raised in Luxembourg to English parents, said after his triumph: "After the win I felt amazing that I had achieved the first ever victory for Luxembourg and put our country on the global stage. I trained very hard and was relieved it was over. I gave everything I had in the qualifications and was over the moon that I kept it together in the final."
He attended the European School and was once an avid rugby player: "My days playing rugby came into my mind a lot as I was on the last 200 metres of the race because I had hardly any gas left in the tank, but I just tried my best to stay solid mentally to finish."
© Archie Williams
