Gukesh conquers fear of heights with bungee jump, shouts ‘I’m the world champion’ while falling
Right after conquering the world champion’s throne in chess, India’s Gukesh also conquered something else: his fear of heights.
The 18-year-old honoured a pact he had made with his trainer, Polish grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski, to do the bungee jump despite his fear of heights if he became a world champion defeating Ding Liren.
Gukesh needed a last-gasp blunder from his Chinese opponent to become the youngest world champion in hory when Ding blundered in Game 14, just when it looked like the matter would have to be settled in tiebreaks.
The story of why the duo had made the pact to go bungee jumping goes something like this: After game 9 of the World Chess Championship, both Gukesh and Grzegorz Gajewski were walking on the beach on the rest day. That’s when the Polish trainer saw a few people trying bungee jumping in the dance.
On an impulse, Gajewski declared that he would do the bungee jump.
As Gukesh had recollected after becoming world champion, “Tomorrow I have to go do the bungee jump. Gaju (Gajewski) won’t mind me sharing this, but he said to me, ‘If you win the world championship, I’m going to do bungee jumping.’ I’m personally quite scared of heights. So I don’t know why I said, ‘I’’ll also join you.’”
Then, Gukesh chuckled as he said: “I’m looking forward to jumping off a bridge.”
Watch: Gukesh’s bungee jump attempt
I did it! pic.twitter.com/FUBpo5m82N
— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) December 16, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
He then joked that maybe his mind trainer Paddy Upton could also join them.
In an interview with The Indian Express after Gukesh became the world champion, Gajewski was also lamenting that brainwave of going bungee jumping.
“Our secret was the bungee jump. It seems we’ll end up doing it. I’ve been looking for excuses to get out of it, but he’s very eager to honour the deal. I was looking for excuses, he’s never looking for excuses. He wants to do the jump, so I will have to,” Gajewski told The Indian Express.
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