Robbie Knievel leaves his jump sight on the Hualapai Reservation in Ariz., after deciding not to make the Grand Canyon Death Jump due to high winds and cold weather on Thursday, April 29, 1999. Knievel rescheduled the jump for May 20.
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Updated: Tuesday, 09 Jun 2009, 5:45 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 09 Jun 2009, 5:25 PM CDT
GRAND CANYON WEST, AZ (AP) 1999 - Motorcycle daredevil Robbie Knievel jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand Canyon on Thursday, breaking his own record.
Fireworks erupted and a crowd of about 500 cheered as Knievel easily cleared the gorge, 2,500 feet above the canyon floor at the Hualapai Indian Reservation.
Officials said Knievel traveled 228 feet, eclipsing the 223-foot record he set in Panama City, Fla., in the early 1990s.
Knievel, 37, ran off the ramp and wiped out in a cloud of dust. He did not appear to have suffered any serious injury.
"I'm wiped out in the head a little," Knievel said.
The jump was televised live by Fox on the East Coast for tape-delay airing later Thursday night in the rest of the country.
Knievel was going to attempt the same jump on April 29 but it was canceled at the last minute because of wind and cold weather. Conditions were much better this time, with clear skies, lighter wind and warm temperatures.
Knievel said his daredevil father, Evel Knievel recovering from a recent liver transplant had wanted to jump the Grand Canyon but never got the chance.
His son achieved notoriety in April 1989 by jumping the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, a stunt that nearly killed Evel Knievel 21 years earlier.
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