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An Australian professional football trickster set a world record for most "around the worlds" in a minute on Thursday in a fundraising event aiming to tap into the World Cup fever sweeping the nation.
Chris Beavon, 19, performed the trick 21 times in 45 seconds before his legs gave out at the Westmead Medical Research Foundation's Football Freestyling contest in Westmead, west of Sydney.
The move involves tossing the ball from between instep and shin and making a full revolution around it with the foot before catching it again and repeating, and Beavon was the first person to attempt a world record with it.
He was disappointed with the result, which he said was hampered by a false start that tired his legs ahead of the record bid.
"My legs just died because it's such a strenuous trick," said Beavon, who has been freestyling for four years, two of them on the professional circuit.
"It's a little bit disappointing because I could have done a lot better. It's still a record, but not quite so impressive," he told AFP.
More than 100 children gathered to watch the bid and take part in a football tricks class with Beavon, who does stunts for commercials, corporate events and pre-match entertainment in Australia.
"With the World Cup coming up it's a big time for football," Beavon said.
His mother suffers from peripheral neuropathy, a painful foot and leg condition which makes it difficult to walk, and Beavon said her illness had driven him to take part.
"When I started doing freestyle football I wanted to do some events to help her out a bit because it's been quite tough on her and our family," he said.
