Extreme athlete emerges after 500 days living in a cave in Spain: ‘I didn’t want to come out’
- Beatriz Flamini, an elite sportswoman and mountaineer, is said to have broken a world record for the longest time spent in a cave
- She emerged into the daylight smiling broadly and describing her experience as ‘excellent, unbeatable’, adding that time had flown by
A 50-year-old Spanish extreme athlete who spent 500 days living 70-metres (230 feet) deep in a cave outside Granada with no contact with the outside world has told how the time flew by and she did not want to come out.
Beatriz Flamini, an elite sportswoman and mountaineer, is said by her support team to have broken a world record for the longest time spent in a cave in an experiment closely monitored by scientists seeking to learn more about the capacities of the human mind and circadian rhythms. She was 48 when she went into the cave, and celebrated two birthdays alone underground.
She began her challenge on Saturday, November 20, 2021 – before the outbreak of Ukraine war, the resultant cost of living crisis, the end of Spain’s lengthy Covid-19 mask requirement and the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
She emerged into the light of spring in southern Spain on Friday wearing dark glasses, carrying her equipment and smiling broadly. She was greeted by a phalanx of cameras and her support team who, wearing masks, encircled her in a hug.
She described her experience as “excellent, unbeatable”, adding that time had flown by.
