Daredevil prepares for Guinness World Record on “Today”
Network News Release …
NEW YORK – Nik Wallenda, the seventh generation of the legendary Great Wallendas, will attempt to set a Guinness world record for the longest distance and greatest height ever traveled by bicycle on a high wire, live on NBC’s “Today.”
Wallenda, 29, will attempt the death-defying feat on Wednesday (Oct. 15) on a high wire rigged off the roof of the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, suspended 12 stories over the street without a safety net. With his family on the ground below, including his wife and three young children, Wallenda will walk 150 feet out onto the wire and return on a bicycle for the world record.
On Tuesday (Oct. 14), Wallenda will practice his bike ride live on “Today” on a wire rigged on the Plaza, and he’ll speak exclusively about the Wallenda legacy and his famous relatives who have died during accidents on the high wire. He will also teach America’s first family how to walk the high wire. Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann will each don specially made high wire shoes and attempt to cross a wire rigged on the Plaza. Wallenda will also challenge the anchors to try special high wire tricks including a tandem walk with a 24-foot pole.
Wallenda’s roots as a circus performer trace back to 1780 when the ancestral Wallenda family began traveling as circus troupe during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He began walking the wire at age 4 and had his first professional wire performance at 13. In 2001, he set his first world record in Kurashiki, Japan for the 4 layer 8-person pyramid on a high wire. Wallenda has most recently been headlining with Ringling Brothers Circus.
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