DonnaJean Wilde, a 61-year-old Canadian, held an abdominal plank for five full hours during the opening ceremonies of the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah, breaking her own Guinness World Record for the longest plank held by a woman.
Wilde's previous record, set in 2024, stood at 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, according to UPI. She told organizers roughly six months in advance that she intended to come back and beat it. On October 6, in front of a crowd gathered for the Games' kickoff, she did — holding the position for nearly half an hour longer than her previous mark.
"Holy cow! Her performance was unbelievable!" Kyle Case, chief executive of the Huntsman World Senior Games, told KSL-TV. "The crowd there and the energy and everybody cheering was just fantastic." Case added that the moment captured what the Games are meant to showcase: "Society might say age might limit us, but that's not true."
The Huntsman Games, running this year from October 5 to 17, bill themselves as the world's largest annual multi-sport event for athletes 50 and older, drawing thousands of competitors to St. George each fall for everything from track and field to pickleball. Wilde's plank wasn't the only notable mark set at this year's opening: 100-year-old Utah competitor Alta Pierson set a Games record in the 50-meter dash during her first-ever track meet, part of a full slate of six events she signed up to compete in.
Footage of the moment Wilde crossed the five-hour mark circulated widely after organizers posted it to social media, racking up several million views — a reminder, Case said, that there's no fixed cutoff for athletic ambition.