Wojtek Czyz of Germany recently competed at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Beijing. In his men’s long jump F42-44 classification event on September 16, 2008 he set a new world record by jumping 6.50 metre, improving on it by 27 centimeters

He had help from space so to say. Sounds sci-fi, well it should be. In 2004 he collaborated with German company ISATEC, where a new L-bracket (between the knee joint and the foot module) for his left leg prosthetics was created using materials to be used for instrument that will be mounted on the International Space Station to study extraterrestrial

The prosthetics is now stronger and lighter unlike Wojtek previous prosthetics which tends to break after several jump attempts. The last Paralympics Games in 2004 (Athens), when Wojtek started to use the new prosthetics, he won the long jump, 100m and 200m sprints. In 2008 he defended his long jump title with a new record

But although technology helped in his record breaking jump, it shouldn’t diminish his own effort leading up to the games, as one still need to qualify and train hard for it. Wojtek lost his left leg three years earlier in a sports accident. He now competes in the long jump and sprint competitions. With the long jump record under his belt, Wojtek will try for a sprints record next