105-year-old woman skydives from 4,100 meters, hoping to break Guinness record

"Age is just a number," Dorothy Hoffner told a group of cheering fans on October 1 shortly after landing at Skydive Chicago Airport in Ottawa, about 10 miles from Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune .

The Guinness World Record for the oldest skydiver was set by Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson of Sweden in May 2022, when she will be 104 years old. Skydive Chicago is working to have Guinness World Records certify Hoffner's jump as a record, according to WLS-TV.

Hoffner, who made his first parachute jump at age 100, left his walker near the plane on October 1 and was helped up the steps with others waiting inside for the jump.

Cụ bà 105 tuổi nhảy dù từ 4.100 m, mong phá kỷ lục Guinness thế giới - Ảnh 1. — Dorothy Hoffner with skydiver Derek Baxter on October 1 at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois.

The first time he skydived, he said he was pushed out of the plane. But on October 1, strapped to a U.S. Parachute Association-certified instructor, Hoffner insisted on taking the initiative in the 13,000-foot jump.

He looked calm and confident as the plane was high in the sky and the rear doors of the plane opened to reveal the fields below, just before he jumped into the air. He dove headfirst out of the plane, completing a perfect forward somersault in the sky, before settling into a belly-down freefall.

The jump lasted seven minutes, including the parachute slowly descending to the ground. Friends rushed to congratulate him afterward, while someone brought Hoffner’s red walker. He quickly stood up and was asked how it felt to be back on the ground. “It was amazing, it was amazing, it couldn’t be more amazing,” Hoffner said.

After the October 1 jump, Mr. Hoffner quickly looked to the future and other challenges, saying he might go on a hot air balloon ride next.

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