It took eight months of preparation to become the world number 1.

Côme Girardot, 22, from Bordeaux, jumped on Monday from a 44.3-metre-high cliff at the Cimbarra waterfall in Spain. He reached 106 km/h in the "flight" to the water in strong winds.

He beat the previous record of 41.7 metres.

On Instagram, the young Frenchman shared images of the moment and said that he had been preparing for the jump for eight months. In the same post, he thanked his friends and family for believing in him.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Côme Girardot, who has been practicing the high-adrenaline sport for five years, said that the months of preparation were "very intense". He had to dive every day so that his body could get used to the impact.

Invented in Norway in 1969, the "death dive" consists of the athlete curling up at the last moment of the jump in order to lessen the impact on the water.