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Monday 20 March 2017

Pogo stick

The modern pogo stick was invented by Germans Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall and patented in Hanover in March 1920. They called their device a "spring end hopping stilt".

In 1922 a British patent was awarded to Walter Lines for a "new or improved hopping-pole for use in exercise or in playing games".

The two-handle pogo stick design was patented by George B. Hansburg in 1957.

By Srd2005 - Own picture,  Wikipedia Commons

The word 'pogo' is thought to be made up of the first two letters of the German inventors' names, though Hansburg said that 'Pogo' was the name of a Burmese girl he had seen whose father had created a crude version of the device so that the daughter could travel to the local temple for prayers.

The sport of Extreme Pogo, or Xpogo, was introduced around 1999 using poles that can reach around 10 feet.

By Xpogo - Wikipedia Commons

The official record for the highest jump on a pogo stick is 3.378 m (11 ft 0.99 in) by Russian athlete Dmitry Arsenyev.

The longest pogo stick marathon is 206,864 bounces, achieved by James Roumeliotis (USA) at Pogopalooza 8 in Costa Mesa, California, USA on July 29, 2011. Roumeliotis bounced for 20 hours and 13 minutes for the marathon held at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Roumeliotis started bouncing at 10:00am on July 29th and finished at 6:13am on July 30th. He used a X-Pogo Elite pogo stick and wore a protective helmet and knee pads. Roumeliotis is the first person to break the 200,000 bounce barrier.

Source Daily Express

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