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Death diving, which has gone viral on TikTok, is basically extreme bellyflopping. The viral videos of this stunt feature people jumping into a water body from great heights, purposefully landing flat on their stomachs in the water.
Disclaimer: This article contains videos that may be disturbing for those with anxiety and fear of heights. Viewer discretion is advised. All stunts are performed by professionals and must not be imitated.
This latest online trend, popularized by TikToker Asbjørg Nesje has left netizens stunned. Nesje pulls these dangerous stunts quite frequently and captures them in videos that she posts on her TikTok account and other social media handles.
Asbjørg Nesje is from Norway. She has over 254k followers on TikTok. In Nesje’s most recent death diving video, she can be seen throwing herself off a wooden platform that was situated 81 feet (24 meters) high from the water. One can gauge how high this is, especially when it is compared to the height of an Olympic diving board, which is around 33 feet.
In the video, Nesje spiraled downward for a few seconds before falling flat on her belly into the water and splashing it around her in a ring wave.
Netizens are both shocked and captivated by death diving
Nesje's latest death diving video left some netizens concerned about the influencer’s safety. So, she uploaded another angle of the dive, which clearly showed her landing in the water and then reemerging from it.
Internet users are evidently mesmerized by Nesje’s nerve-racking death dives, which have garnered over 253 million views on the platform so far.
The diver also puts safety warnings on her videos so that people with anxiety or fear of heights won’t get triggered by them. Her warnings also include a disclaimer advising people against imitating the dive:
“The actions in this video are performed by professionals or supervised by professionals. Do not attempt."
Although Nesje assured viewers that she was okay, people are not convinced about the safety of the sport, and expressed their reactions in the comments section of the post.
Some also wrote words of praise for the diver:
Other divers have also started making death-diving videos after Nesje went viral. Most of them are professional extreme athletes.
The origin of death diving
The sport of death diving has its origins in Norway, where the locals call it dødsing. It began in Norway in the early 70s as a wooing stunt by men to show off in front of women.
Nowadays, the Dødsing Federation in Norway officially monitors the sport. It has its own guidelines and world rankings as well. Since 2008, the country has been hosting world championships in dødsing every year in the month of August.
The sport in Norway follows three main criteria that mark a good jump. These include run-ups, flights, and landings. In the first step, the run-up is judged based on speed and power.
The second step is flight, where the participant must appear controlled at all times while simultaneously being harmonious in the air, whether they are going for a freestyle or a classic jump. A classic flight includes simple movements without any rotations. A freestyle jump must contain full rotations along with other tweaks.
Death diving has gained popularity in recent years through viral social media videos. While these videos feed some viewers’ adrenaline rush, others are worried about the divers’ safety. Many consider the impact of forcefully slapping the water’s upper surface to be similar to blunt force trauma. Hard bellyflops can also cause serious bruising or even internal injury.
Asbjørg Nesje won the Døds women’s championships in both 2021 and 2022. She joined the sport in 2020 and within only three years she’s currently in the 33rd rank across the globe.
