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Saturday, Jun 16, 2012 2:45 AM UTC

Tethered Wallenda walks wire across Niagara Falls

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Topics: From the Wires,

Tethered Wallenda walks wire across Niagara FallsSpectators and media gather to see the 550 metre-long tightrope that Nik Wallenda will use hangs over Niagara Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada., on Friday, June 15, 2012. Conditions appear good leading up to the nationally televised stunt scheduled for Friday night. When Wallenda leaves terra firm about 10:15, it should be in the low 60s with winds under 10 mph from the east, roughly at his back. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)(Credit: AP)

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) — Daredevil Nik Wallenda has finished his attempt to become the first person to walk on a tightrope 1,800 feet across the mist-fogged brink of roaring Niagara Falls.

The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted. Other daredevils have wire-walked over the Niagara River but farther downstream and not since 1896.

An estimated crowd of 125,000 people on the Canadian side and 4,000 on the American side watched Wallenda’s stunt Friday night.

ABC televised the walk and insisted Wallenda use a tether to keep him from falling in the river. Wallenda said he agreed because he wasn’t willing to lose the chance and needed ABC’s sponsorship to help offset some of the $1.3 million cost of the spectacle.

More Carolyn Thompson.

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