Female ‘death diver’ breaks world record in leap from Oregon falls – watch the breathtaking video

A breathtaking video captures the moment a Norwegian woman broke the world record for the highest female ‘Death Dive’.

Asbjørg Nesje, 25, jumped from a dizzying height of 31 meters at Abiqua Falls in Oregon in June.

Death diving is an extreme sport that is gaining popularity online. In this sport, divers jump from a great height and maintain a specific position until the last moment.

Nesje, a three-time world champion, held her exposed position until just a fraction of a second before impact.

She is also the first diver to ever attempt a jump from this location.

Photographer Steven Donovan, who captured the breathtaking moment, described the intense emotions that accompanied the jump.

Donovan wrote in an Instagram video he shared in July, “I feel so incredibly inspired and honored by what I was able to witness and capture recently. @asbjorg_n made history by not only setting the record for the highest female death dive, but also becoming the first person to ever complete a death dive at this iconic location.”

“She did it with such beauty and grace in front of a large group of some of the best freestyle cliff jumpers in the world. Standing on top with Asbjorg feeling her emotions and the fear that came with this jump was tough.”

Donovan spoke of how scared he felt when he saw his friend take the plunge. He felt “a knot in my stomach” because he knew how dangerous the stunt was.

‘Although I did everything I could to cheer her up and convince her that she could definitely do this stunt, I still felt a knot in my stomach, knowing how dangerous this jump is and that the last hug I gave my girlfriend before she jumped could well be the last.’

“Watching her emerge from the freezing water, being greeted by all of our friends and hugging them one by one on the other side brought tears to my eyes. I had just witnessed a groundbreaking achievement in women’s sports.”

Nesje responded and thanked her supporters and Donovan for the beautiful photo.

“Your support at the top meant so much to me, and also the whole community cheering me on at the bottom,” she said. “And thanks again for capturing it in the most epic way ever!!”

Asbjørg Nesje, 25, jumped from a dizzying height of 101 feet (31 meters) at Abiqua Falls in Oregon in June

Death diving, an extreme sport that is gaining popularity online, involves divers throwing themselves from great heights while maintaining a specific position until the last possible second

The sport of death diving originated in Norway in the 1970s. Daredevils dive from platforms as high as 24 metres into the water, often landing with a painful belly flop to generate as many clicks as possible.

The extreme sport went viral on TikTok last year and quickly became one of the app’s most-watched trends, prompting safety concerns among some users as participants jump from enormous heights.

Nesje, who regularly attracts millions of viewers when she jumps herself from enormous heights, went viral in 2023 after a video of her diving from an 80-foot platform was viewed more than 40 million times.

The daredevil plummeted for a few seconds before she plunged into the depths, causing some onlookers to fear for her safety.

“Did she survive?” asked one commenter. Another said, “That looks painful…”

“OMG… Is she okay?” asked one concerned viewer.

She is also the first diver to ever attempt a jump from this location. Photographer Steven Donovan captured the stunning video in an Instagram video shared in July

Concerned for her safety, Nesje later uploaded another video of the jump, but from a different angle, and assured her fans that she had “never felt so alive.”

The Scandinavian sport, called dødsing, even has its own federation with guidelines, rankings and a world championship that has been held every August since 2008.

To succeed in an official Dødsing Federation competition, judges assess diving performances based on three main criteria: approach, flight and landing.

Nesje won the Women’s World Championships in both 2021 and 2022 and is now ranked 33rd in the world.

Before her recent jump, the highest fatal dive ever was performed by Emil Lybekk in 2019.