Daredevil tightrope walker Nik Wallenda has successfully completed a walk across the six-inch rim of the spinning, 400-foot Orlando Eye, setting his tenth world record.
The 36-year-old started his walk shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning after a time of prayer with his family, and finished a record four minutes later.
"This is definitely a dream of mine,'' Wallenda told Today afterward. "We're inspiring people to do greater things, to step out of their comfort zones. I'm living out what my family has done for over 200 years. To be able to fulfill these life-long dreams is an awesome feeling of accomplishment. What an amazing feeling it was up there."
After riding to the top of the wheel, Wallenda navigated up ladders and around parts of the structure to begin his walk, only stopping at one point between capsules to wave to the crowd gathered below.
Immediately after finishing his walk, the daredevil snapped a photo of himself with his phone before riding down to the ground atop one of the wheel's capsules.
"#nevergiveup," he captioned the photo, which was posted to his Twitter page.
Although the wind was blowing at about 20 mph during his walk, Wallenda told reporters it was "not too overwhelming." He also said the structure was "really wet" when he stepped out on the wheel's surface despite the otherwise clear weather.
"My shoes are soaking wet, actually, on the bottom of them," he told reporters.
Wallenda, who is a member of the "Flying Wallenda" family of circus stuntmen, is known for his risky, televised tightrope walks, usually over large landmarks including Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon.
The Florida native, who is married and has three children, credits his strong Christian faith for giving him the courage to complete his stunts, and he can often be heard praying as he walks across various tightropes. "My faith plays a huge role in my life, and I am very blessed to be where I am. One of the questions I always get is, "Are you testing your faith / are you testing God?" I don't see it like that at all. I don't believe God keeps me on the wire," Wallenda told Christianity Today back in 2013.
"I believe God gives me a unique ability to walk the wire, but it's up to me whether I train properly. There's a lot of people that have amazing relationships with Christ that lose their lives in a car accident. Does that mean they didn't have a good enough relationship with Jesus? No. Life happens and God created us all in his image, but we're all our own people. We're not robots. We make decisions."
According to the New York Daily News, Wednesday's walk could establish a new Guinness Book record for the greatest walk at the top of an observation wheel. However, it will not be an official record until it is certified by the organization, as Guinness officials weren't present during the walk.
Wallenda's next stunt will reportedly take place in August, when he is scheduled to walk a tightrope at least 10 stories above the Milwaukee Mile racetrack on the grounds of the Milwaukee State Fair. He said that the walk would be longest of his career, but far from his last.
"I'm working on everything from the pyramids in Egypt, to a big walk in New York City, to an active volcano," Wallenda said.
