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19. 10. 12. - 16:17
Felix fall guy says no hard feelings
The man who fell to earth Felix Baumgartner got a jump on his rivals after nicking the idea for his amazing 24 mile sky-dive, a former pal has claimed.
Daredevil explorer Ivan Trifonov, 67, claims he gave Felix the idea for the jump from the edge of space - after his wife banned him from doing the stunt himself.
Ivan - a record-breaking Polar hot air balloonist - explained: "I had the idea of a jump from the edge of a stratosphere and told Felix about it in 2005 after my wife told me I was too old for all that."
"I let him have the idea on the condition that he had to include me in his team.
"He accepted the condition, but later told me he was working with Americans and didn't need me any more," added Trifonov, who lives in Vienna.
But even though he record breaking dreams came down to earth with a bump, Trifonov says there are no hard feelings.
"I sent him an SMS congratulating him on what he'd done and asking him to come to a celebration dinner," he said.
Red Bull has admitted that they had contact with Trifonov but said the idea for a jump into the stratosphere is already over 50 years old.
They said that many people have put forward projects including Trifonov but as his concept was not regarded as realistic it had not been followed up.
