John Gress/Reuters
Nick Wallenda completed his controversial Chicago skywalks Sunday, breaking two world records and defying critics who said the stunt was too dangerous to perform without a harness. Wallenda completed the two walks in about eight minutes, in a spectacle drawn out over two hours for television. “You guys watching think I’m crazy, but this is what I’m made for,” Wallenda said after his first steps on the wire. Wallenda, 35, first crossed over the Chicago River from the Marina City west tower to the Leo Burnett Building at a 19-degree slant, setting the record for steepest incline, and then undertook a more difficult feat, walking from the Marina City west tower to the east tower at more than 500 feet while blindfolded. That set the record for the highest blindfold walk ever. Wallenda said the wind kept him from dawdling.