That morning, only a thin rope was swaying over the river, but after twelve hours of grueling struggle, the capital witnessed one of the most daring athletic feats.
Friday, September 18, 2026, in Bratislava was marked by an extreme test of limits. Thirty-four-year-old Estonian slackliner and three-time world champion Jaan Roose set a world record by walking on a rope between two of the city’s landmarks as part of a project called “From Dawn to Dusk.”
Dozens of meters in the air and uncompromising conditions
The route, connecting Bratislava Castle and the top of the UFO observation tower on the SNP Bridge, was 666 meters long. The rope itself was only 1.9 centimeters wide and was suspended approximately 100 meters above the Danube.
The project began shortly after sunrise at 7:15 a.m., and the athlete moved back and forth all day long. Although conditions on the highline varied, Roose remained in action continuously for a full 12 hours. For safety reasons, the organizers had to monitor the weather—wind speeds were not allowed to exceed eight meters per second.
A feat that no one else in the world has ever accomplished
Throughout the day, tens of thousands of people—both on the streets and via live online streams—watched as the Estonian redefined the record books. When the clock ran out, the final tally showed an incredible 22 successful crossings. Roose traversed a total of 14.7 kilometers on the dynamic rope. No one in the world had ever before completed a marathon-style event of this distance under such challenging conditions.
The athlete’s previous achievements:
2021 (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Performed acrobatic stunts at a height of 100 meters right in the center of Sarajevo.
2022 (Kazakhstan): Completed a 500-meter slackline stretched between two mountain peaks.
2023 (Qatar): Walked 150 meters along a rope stretched between two towers of the same building in Doha.
2024 (Italy): Completed his most ambitious project—walking 3.6 km across the Strait of Messina. Although Jaan fell a few meters short of the finish line and did not set an official world record, he became the first person in the world to walk on a slackline from mainland Italy to the island of Sicily.
In addition to physical training, he had to cope with enormous psychological stress, breathe correctly, and constantly replenish his energy while suspended on the rope. The Bratislava Challenge once again pushed the boundaries of modern slacklining to a whole new level.
