Diego Poncelet had already gone faster than the existing record on his first test day on Route des Éboulements. The Spanish skateboarder reached 146.88 km/h on the closed road, passing the mark set by British athlete Peter Connolly nine years earlier.
He waited five days for the wind conditions to calm, then made the run that took the benchmark further still.
On 22 September 2026, Poncelet rode his specially designed 14 kg skateboard down the road in Charlevoix, Quebec, wearing rubber-soled shoes, and reached 151.83 km/h, or 94.34 mph. The run set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest skateboard speed in a standing position.
The achievement was kept under wraps until Thursday, when it was announced publicly. Poncelet had wanted to “destroy” the previous record rather than merely exceed it.
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Poncelet, 27, is a Spanish skateboarder and a two-time downhill skateboarding world champion. He was born in Mexico and grew up in Spain and Switzerland. At 17, after trying football, hockey and boxing, he decided to pursue a career as a professional skateboarder.
Route des Éboulements offered a demanding stage: a closed road of about 2.2 km, including a 600 m straight with an incline of up to 18 percent. It had been used for the earlier world-record attempt, despite widespread concerns about deterioration of the road.
Poncelet prepared for the descent in Geneva, where wind-tunnel sessions helped him refine his riding position. His work also focused on upper-body and neck mobility, allowing him to make himself extremely compact on the board. He memorised every corner and followed the painted white lines down the mountain.
He collaborated with Prada Linea Rossa and Red Bull on the attempt.
His private target had been 93mph. “I never truly admitted to myself that my real objective was to get to 93mph – I was scared that it wouldn't be doable,” Poncelet said. “It was only when I got that 93mph that I was completely ecstatic.”
He called the descent “high-consequence meditation”. At such speeds, Poncelet said he enters a Zen-like state in which his subconscious takes control, because braking would cause him to lose control.
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