Athletes take the plunge in base-jumping event

"Every athlete is actually a champion," said Australian athlete Chris Mcdougall who won first prize on Saturday at the China Anshun Balinghe Bridge International Base Jumping Tournament.

This year's event, with 34 athletes from 15 countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Britain and Spain, was held at Balinghe Bridge, Anshun city, Guizhou province.

For the base jumpers their purpose was not just to win but to also share the wonderful thrill with other jumpers from all over the world. For many athletes this was their second time taking the plunge in Anshun.

"The Balinghe Bridge is definitely the best bridge I have ever seen so when we jump from it, we can fully appreciate its beauty. Although we all want to win, enjoying the experience is, in fact, the most important thing for us", said Chris Carnahan of the US, who works as a police officer in South Los Angeles and has more than 1,050 jumps.

Since the first Balinghe Bridge jump was held in Anshun last year, the competition has become the premier base-jumping competition both in Guizhou and China.

Balinghe Bridge is also the highest bridge in the world to host a base-jumping event.

The bridge, spanning 1,088 meters, is 370 meters high.