Athlete born without legs breaks two Guinness World Records

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles athlete who was born without legs showed off the strength of his upper body by breaking the Guinness World Records for highest box jump with the hands and most diamond pushups in three minutes.

Clark broke both records Oct. 13 at The Dogpound gym in Los Angeles, Guinness World Records announced.

Clark took on the box jumping record first, meeting the Guinness minimum of 24 inches easily. The height of the box was increased to 30 inches, which he also cleared, and ended up setting the record at 33 inches.

The athlete then took on the record for diamond pushups, a variant of the exercise that involves the hands being placed together in a diamond shape instead of at shoulder width.

Clark's first attempt at the pushup record ended prematurely, but on his second try he smashed the record with 248 in under three minutes.

"[The pushups] was definitely a mind game, it is definitely mind over matter," he told Guinness officials.

Clark was born without legs as a result of caudal regression syndrome, a rare condition characterized by abnormal development of the lower end of the spine.