Daredevil Granny, 103, Sets World Record For Oldest Skydiver

June 3, 2022

A 103-year-old Swedish woman has become the world's oldest person to complete a tandem parachute jump.

Credit: Carl Bruno Tersmeden/SVT

When Rut Larsson was in her 90s, she wanted to learn more about flying and started experimenting with paragliding and ballooning.

In 2019, she did her first parachute jump at 101 years old. But it was not a world record. In the same year, American Kathryn Hodges had completed a jump at 103 years old.

Last week, Rut Larsson completed her world-record jump harnessed to parachutist Joackim Johansson in Motala. Family and friends were there to celebrate her accomplishment, along with a judge from the Guinness Book of World Records.

Larsson is now the world's oldest person to complete a tandem parachute jump at 103 years and 259 days old, beating the previous record of 103 years and 129 days.

"There was an American woman who beat the record so I had to beat hers," Larsson said.

"It was wonderful to do this, I've been thinking about it for a long time."

Watch the video below.