Two men have become the first people ever launched out of a chimney, after a team built a 60-metre human catapult inside the 360-metre Trbovlje chimney in Slovenia — Europe’s tallest — and fired them out of the top at about 180 km/h. Fred Fugen of France and Dani Roman of Spain were launched on 5 November 2026, and the stunt set two Guinness World Records.
The catapult fired the pair from 0 to about 180 km/h (112 mph) in around 2.15 seconds, at up to 4.2 G, according to Red Bull’s account of the jump. Roman set the Guinness World Records title for the greatest height by human catapult, rising 100.36 metres after leaving the launcher, and the pair then set a second record for the greatest combined height in a dual launch, before parachuting down to safety.
A chimney built for a stunt
The Trbovlje chimney is 360 metres tall — the tallest chimney in Europe — and the catapult was built 60 metres up inside it. The two men were fired out of the top of the chimney, rose more than 100 metres above it, and then opened their parachutes and flew down. The whole stunt was filmed by Red Bull, and the footage was released as a YouTube Short on 5 November 2026.
The numbers are the story: 0 to 180 km/h in 2.15 seconds is faster than most sports cars, and 4.2 G is more than twice the force felt on a roller coaster. The 100.36-metre rise after leaving the launcher is the height of a 30-storey building, climbed in a few seconds, with nothing underneath but air.
A record with a history
Human catapults are not new — they have been a staple of circus and stunt acts for more than a century — but launching two people at once out of a chimney is a first. The dual-launch record, for the greatest combined height in a dual launch, is a new category created for the stunt, and the single-launch record, for the greatest height by human catapult, now belongs to Dani Roman at 100.36 metres.
The stunt was reported by Red Bull, Torqued Magazine, FLYER and 101 WIXX, according to the YouTube Short’s description. It is the kind of story that sounds made up until you see the footage: two men, a chimney, a catapult, and a parachute — and a world record at the end of it.
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Sources: Red Bull, 5 Nov 2026; WION, 10 Nov 2026.
