Roller limbo skater Gagan Satish from Bangalore squeezes beneath 39 cars
A super flexible schoolboy has become a limbo legend – by roller-skating under 39 cars in a row. It took six-year-old Gagan Satish just 29 seconds to cover a distance of nearly 70 metres with his face just five inches from the ground.
The bendy boy from Bangalore – who has become a celebrity in his hometown and inspired scores of children to take up the sport – is now vowing to take on the world.
He said: “I love skating. I have been doing it since I was three years old. My next goal is to skate underneath 100 cars. I also want to go to the Olympics.
Gagan Satish practices limbo-skating at a local sports complex in Bengaluru, Indi
Gagan Satish performs limbo-skating under a SUV
Gagan, who unwrapped his first pair of roller-skates on his third birthday, was initially rejected by his local club for being too young.
But his mother Hema Satish, 28, was determined he would be taken on. “We could see that his body was very flexible,” she said. “After that we decided to send him for proper coaching. “We always knew he would do well. Hopefully this is just the beginning of his sporting career.”
The housewife said her son had been injured many times but always got up again to continue. She added: “While practicing and training, he has been hurt many times. But he never backs out. During a limbo skating session a few months ago, he even had cuts on face because he was too close to the ground. He was bleeding also. But he still continued and stopped skating only after the session ended.”
Gagan Satish performs limbo-skating under sticks placed on cold drink bottles as his coach Dasarahalli Chandrappa Yathish takes a measuremen
His father Rajanna Satish who runs a washing machine repair centre said he was ‘nervous’ throughout his son’s record attempt, which was filmed by a local camera crew, but overjoyed he had succeeded. “We are really lucky to have a son like Gagan,” the 30-year-old added. He has been blessed by God. And we thank God for giving him such grace and talent.”
Gagan Satish poses for a photograph with his father Garudanayakana Palya Rajanna Satish and mother Rajanna Hema Satish at their house in Bengaluru
Gagan’s record-breaking stunt has been recognised by the India Book of Records as the ‘Farthest Distance In Limbo Skating Under Cars’ – but the feat has yet to be ratified by the Guinness Book of World Records. In achieving his goal, Gagan shattered the previous record of 48.21 metres set two years ago by Shreeya Deshpande, then five, in Kolhapur.
Gagan Satish seen limbo-skating in a lane infront of his house
Gagan follows a rigorous routine, and never gives his training classes a miss. “He gets up at 5am. Then we take him for coaching classes. He practices there for a few hours. After that he goes to school,” said Rajanna.
It was the culmination of three months specialist training with his coach Yatish Gowda. Mr Gowda, who says he has believed in Gagan from the start, said: “He has been working very hard for this for a long time. This is a great achievement and we are all very proud.”