The upside-down record breaker: Colombian takes third title for endurance balancing acts

A Colombian man has claimed his third acrobatic world record after spending more than an hour flipped upside-down like a bat while supporting his entire body weight on just two palms.

Periodically shifting his weight back-and-forth between each arm, Néstor Santiago Gonzalez Valero – who goes by Santiago – stayed in the position for a whopping 1 hr 15 min 13 sec to claim the title for the longest time balancing on the hands.

Weak with exhaustion but still sporting a giant grin, he broke the title in Bogota, which had stood for over three years – since Valeriia Davydenko’s (Ukraine) 1 hr 10 min 3 sec effort in France during 2023.

In a post on Instagram after the attempt, Santiago celebrated his achievement by quoting psychologist Daniel Goleman: “... it all comes down to your level of commitment and dedication.”

And this mentality is certainly familiar to the Colombian record holder, as he’s spent the last year throwing himself into these extreme acrobatic challenges. 

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On 3 May of this year, Santiago claimed his first record title for the longest duration to perform a single arm handstand (male) – and it’s safe to say that from that point onwards, he caught the record-holding bug.

Within the attempt, he balanced on his right palm for a total of 1 min 54.50 sec to take the title from American Joel Herzfeld’s effort of 1 min 48.61 sec.

And just 19 days later, he returned to the record books again with the most handstand shoulder taps in one minute (male), after completing a total of 120 in just 60 seconds. 

Santiago smiling after breaking the shoulder tap record

In a letter to GWR, Santiago stated that his goal was to “make my mark on my country’s history, and my own personal history, by highlighting the value of discipline as a means to achieve any goal.”

“With this record and the previous ones… I aim to push the boundaries with the handstand, which I’ve been developing and training for quite some time now all over the world!”

And you can certainly say that Santiago has thrown himself into this mission head-over-heels – as his socials are filled with posts of him teaching acrobatic and handstand classes online and in-person, with the intention of turning people into their healthier, happier selves through calisthenics and body-weight control.

In these videos, he flips himself right beside them, showing his classes how to tighten their core and straighten their back so that one day they might also balance their way into the record books.

So congratulations, Santiago, on your acrobatic Triple Crown – you are Officially Amazing!