It’s official — Diego Poncelet is now the fastest downhill skateboarder in history. And the Spaniard has Prada Linea Rossa and Red Bull to thank.
The two-time downhill world champion reached a record-breaking speed of 151.83 kilometers an hour, or 94.34 miles an hour, on a closed section of Route des Éboulements in the Charlevoix region of Québec, Canada, on Sept. 22. His accomplishment was kept under wraps until Thursday.
After years of preparation and waiting for the perfect wind, temperature and road conditions, Poncelet broke the record by a small margin on his first attempt before returning five days later to finalize the feat.
Every component of his equipment was engineered to maximize performance. Prada Linea Rossa collaborated closely with the athlete to develop custom footwear and gloves that combined high-performance materials with protection, comfort and grip. The handcrafted shoes featured a sticky rubber compound combined with a herringbone traction design to optimize board contact and control, which allowed him to push the speed limits on the skateboard.
He trained in a wind tunnel to refine his posture and determine how long he could hold his streamlined position. On the day he broke the record, reading the wind fell to Miguel Sanchez Cuenca, Poncelet’s meteorologist uncle. “The wind was one of the most important parts of the project, and finding the right window was a difficult process,” Cuenca said. “For the 151.83 kilometer-per-hour run, we had 10 to 14 kilometers per hour of tailwind from the northeast during a short window as the wind was turning, which we managed to take advantage of at the perfect angle.”
This marks the latest chapter between Prada Linea Rossa, the technical activewear and lifestyle arm of the Prada luxury house, and Red Bull, the energy drink company, which have worked together to support athletes seeking to expand the possibilities of human performance.
The 27-year-old Poncelet won the Downhill Skateboarding World Championships in 2022 and 2023 and has been chasing the world record for years. Prior to his run in Canada, the Guinness World Record for a downhill skateboard was held by Peter Connolly of the U.K. with a speed of 146.73 kilometers an hour or 91.17 miles per hour, set in 2017 on the same course.