Jithin Vijayan, a Kerala-based IT professional and skydiver, won the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award—India's highest adventure sports honour—in the air category. President Droupadi Murmu presented the award on Friday, January 17.
Vijayan made history in 2023 by winning the Guinness World Record for the highest altitude skydiving with a flag and the longest outdoor freefall.
His daring jump was at Whiteville, Tennessee in the United States on July 1, 2023. He exited from a record height of 42,431 feet and also achieved the highest freefall time of 2 minutes and 47 seconds.
Vijayan is the first Asian to jump from an altitude of 42,000 feet or above.
He also holds the record for the most consecutive days of skydiving in different dropzones by engaging in the adventure sport for 18 days from June 1 to 18, 2023.
Besides these feats, Vijayan has two FAI Asian records and two national records to his name for the exit altitude and distance of fall.
“Every time I dive, it feels like a homecoming, a falling back to the lap of Mother Earth and the feeling is totally a fulfilling one,” says his social media bio.
Vijayan, the CEO of Kochi-based IT firm N-Dimesions Solutions Private Limited, received training in skydiving from various centres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the UK.
He became the first person from Kerala to be honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.
The prestigious award, named after Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two persons to conquer Mount Everest, is given to those who made remarkable achievements in the field of adventure activities on land, sea and air.
