A life for sport in search of uniqueness, freedom, a “road” that is uniquely his. This, in a few words, is the profile of Jan Roosewhich alone 32 years old he is already a world legend of the slacklining and is preparing to accomplish, starting from July, the incredible feat of cross the sea Between Sicily e Calabria. The athlete will be suspended on a strip of fabric less than 2 cm widestretched for over 3600 meters between the two majestic pylons of the former power line Strait of Messina.
Only a multifaceted character like Jaan, he who has been defined as “the biggest export of Estonia since Skype”, he could have tried so much. For him – self-defined “performer atletico” – the sports practice it is on the one hand a form of art and cannot ignore its spectacular dimension; on the other hand, it is something deeply intimate, because all the challenges he takes up are first and foremost against himself, against his own limits and fears.
The routine Of training Of I share the shadow depending on the goals, but it is always very intense: on the slackline even a short distance can be exhausting, both physically and mentally, as much as and more than a marathon. Nothing can be left to chance, the weather forecast is not always an ally, especially the vento can turn into an invisible enemy: the planning, the setting of his team, the meticulous care of the materials of the webbing, of the choice of shoes they are all essential factors and even just a small flaw can cost you dearly.
In the slacklining, fear, pain and fatigue are unavoidable companies: a lot of the training is focused on learning to live with them, to control your body without getting sopraQare, especially in unfamiliar situations or in front of the public. In this sense, Jaan he wanted to add to his personal repertoire of extreme sports skydiving…which in his opinion is less exciting than walking suspended.
Self-taught, At a very young age he was inspired not so much by individual athletes or real characters, but by superhero films and the desire to be able to achieve their own superpowers, to fly and cross distances at crazy heights. A mystical goal to always strive for, day after day, challenge after challenge. His sports route he ranged between parkour, free running e acrobatica, then in 2010 the “love at first sight” with the slackline. After his first uncertain steps, with his typical stubbornness, he soon started performing his first tricks. The wish of go “beyond” It was the natural consequence: Jaan thus began not only to to race in the international competitionsbut above all to stretch the ribbon in increasingly daring and improbable places, crossing ever longer distances and challenging the most hostile weather conditions.
Today his very personal palmarès is pure gold, with three world titles and legendary records, such as the first double backflip (backward jump with a high coeQiciente of difficulty) ever successfully achieved on a slackline. It also got through its one ribbon skyscrapers, hills, valleys in various countries around the world, even trying his hand at walking on a trailer towed by a moving truck. Also noteworthy is his commitment as a stuntman in cinema – he appeared among other things in Assassin’s Creed e Wonder Woman 1984 – and participation in Madonna’s world tour.
Even with such sporting and life experience, Jaan he never stopped feeling emotion when faced with new challenges. And the crossing of the Strait of Messina It will be more special than the others, not only for the distance to be covered, but above all for the setting, a millenary crossroads of ancestral stories and myths, which will perfectly frame the sporting gesture.
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