Spain’s Christian Roberto López Rodriguez has added to his growing list of world records by becoming the fastest person to run 100 meters in a pair of stilettos, covering the distance in an astounding 12.82 seconds. Guinness World Records has announced it has certified the 34-year-old’s high-heeled feat as the quickest ever recorded, which Rodriguez ran in Cabañas de la Sagra, Spain, on Feb. 19. Rodriguez breaks the record previously held by Germany’s Andre Ortolfwho in 2019 covered the distance in 14.02 seconds.
New record: Fastest 100 meters run in high heels (male) – 12.82 seconds by Christian Roberto López Rodríguez 🇪🇸
It’s only 3 seconds off Usain Bolt’s 100 meter world record! 👠 pic.twitter.com/sScdaWBfUp
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) June 26, 2023
For those vying to stand above the competition in this event, not just any pair of heels will do. To qualify for the world record, runners must wear stilettos that are at least seven centimeters high and no more than 1.5 cm wide at the tip. Platforms, for example, would be much too chunky to earn a runner a place on the podium in this niche event.
Rodriguez told Guinness World Records that preparing for his latest world-record attempt was “very exhaustive and specific. I find it very challenging to be able to run in high heels at high speed. In Spain there are races like this, and they have always gone well for me.”
The runner, who has Type 1 diabetes, said his motivation to break the record was to show other diabetics that they “can do as much or more things than people without diabetes.”
Rodriguez’s other records
Rodriguez’s latest accomplishment is the fastest of more than a dozen different records he holds in the 100m. The other records include covering 100 m while:
blindfolded (12.45 seconds)
wearing clogs (12.58 seconds)
running backwards (13.17 seconds)
balancing a baseball bat on a finger (13.83 seconds)
balancing a guitar on a finger: (14.31 seconds)
carrying a waiting service tray (14.51 seconds)
balancing a table tennis ball on a bat (14.69 seconds)
juggling three objects whilst blindfolded (15.28 seconds)
balancing a cue pool on a finger (15.32 seconds)
running backwards carrying a 60-pound (27.2-kg) pack (23.45 seconds)
running backwards on a single leg (24.76 seconds)
running in a sack (25.96 seconds)
