We blog plenty of impressive sports catches around these parts—centerfielders robbing dingers, wide receivers reaching out for one-handed grabs, or dads snagging foul balls. But I’ll go as far to say that not a single one is as cool as the quick-thinking, high-speed catch made by New Zealand fistball player Samuel Kempf while on the roller coaster Shambhala in a Barcelona theme park.
Though he plays a sport that requires a closed fist, Kempf had no difficulties opening his hand to haul in a stray cell phone that had slipped from a seat ahead of him. Here he is describing what happened to his hometown Timaru Herald:
“The guy two rows ahead of me, as the ride started doing its ascent before it drops, he had his phone out and he dropped it and it just landed at the bottom of his cart,” Kempf said.
...
“The ride started and I totally forgot about it because I was just in the moment ‘cause it was such a good ride and then after the first drop we rose up and I just saw the phone drift across my view so I reached out and managed to catch it.”
And here’s video of the whole ride, which was bought for Kempf by the owner of the phone:
Odell Beckham could never.