Paul Henry Allen Lynch was a multiple
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
holder through the 1980s, and 1990s. Paul was best known for his previous world records in
push-up
The push-up (sometimes called a press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterio ...
s,
and most notably consecutive one-finger push-ups.
Records
;One-Arm Push-Ups
Paul's first world record happened in 1982, June 10,
when Paul accomplished 760 one-armed push-ups at the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
,
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Greater London,
at the age of 27 years. As an effect Paul's record appeared in the, 1983 - Guinness Book of Records.
Paul's second world record occurred in 1983, July 10, when Paul accomplished 1,753 one-armed push-ups at the Wimbledon
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
, London.
;One-Finger Push-Ups
The One-Finger push-up is done with just one finger of one arm only, and must be done consecutively with no breaks. The back must remain straight, and the elbow must make a 90 degree angle to mark each successful push-up. However, Guinness does allow the one-finger to be performed on the knuckle of the finger being used (Paul used his fully extended finger). The One-Finger can be subjectively argued as the hardest push-up in the Guinness category, as most Guinness push-ups are well with the thousands.
The Pioneer of the first documented one finger push-up can be credited to Mich (Michael Gooch) who in 1982, March 20 achieved 39 one finger push-ups during the
Kyokushinkai European Championships (
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
Championships) at Wembley Arena, London UK.
Soon after, Mich Gooch, broke his record achieving 45 one-finger push-ups to become the first Guinness World Record Holder in the one-finger in 1985.
The Attempt
On 21 April 1992 at London's Hippodrome, Lynch performed 124 consecutive one-finger push-ups over approximately 5 minutes, during what would have been his 125th push-up, Paul shattered the bones in his finger.
After the attempt, Lynch was quoted as saying, "It felt like sticking my finger in an electrical socket."
Guinness no longer publicizes the consecutive one-finger push-up, rather a new category of most one-finger in 30 seconds has been introduced.
References
External links
Push-Ups World RecordsRecord Breaker Lifts More Than A Finger10 Weird Achievements in The Guinness Book of World Records- First documented footage of the one finger push-up: Mich Gooch1982, March 20
Further reading
*1983 Guinness Book of Records, page-288
*1984 Guinness Book of Records, page-289
*1995 The New Guinness Book of Records, page-262
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Paul Henry Allen
Living people
British sportspeople
Year of birth missing (living people)