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Photo by Eric Engman

FAIRBANKS — Elijah Cabinboy set himself on the floor — balancing on one fist and one foot — and affixed his gaze on the fur-covered ball hanging 95 inches above him.

In a single burst, he fluidly propelled himself from the hardwood and straightened his body all the way from his knuckles on the floor to his foot pointed directly upward. In that moment, he looked just like the silhouette sewn on the side of the ball he was aiming for, the very image of the Alaskan high kick.

At full extension, the toe of his shoe lightly tapped the ball on the bottom.

It would have been a new world record.

It was one try too late.

“I don’t feel too bad about it because this is the highest I’ve ever kicked in competition,” Cabinboy said. “I’m real happy and proud of that.”

Cabinboy matched the Alaskan high kick world record of 94 inches, shared by Jesse Frankson and Manuel Tumulak, Thurdsay night at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics in the Carlson Center.

When Tumulak couldn’t connect at 94 inches, Cabinboy was the only athlete left and had three attempts to stand alone in the record books.

His first try was slightly off-target. He had the height, but his foot didn’t come up at the center of the ball and missed the edge.

His second attempt was even closer. It was much like his first, only this time he came within a quarter-inch. His foot swung toward the center of the ball and “broke the wind,” fanning the ball enough to move it.

When he looked up and saw the ball in motion, he thought he had done it.

“I just let it get to my head after that,” Cabinboy said. “ I had no control. I couldn’t see it anymore. I had it perfectly visualized how I was going to do it, but ... some things just don’t go like you want them to.”

When his third attempt failed, the crowd let out a collective “Augh!” that soon was matched by applause and cheers.

Then, without the pressure of the competition, he quickly set up and kicked the ball, unofficially surpassing the world record.

“There’s always other years to come back and new records to be broken,” Cabinboy said. “I’m pretty happy and proud that I was able to match it.”

Tying the world record was the latest step in a journey that started five years ago when Cabinboy was killing time while counting fish at his job in Nome.

“I had nothing better to do, so I started learning how to do the Alaska high kick,” he said.

He improved as other kickers gave him tips and techniques. He could kick as high as 82 inches before he learned to “go vertical,” forming the temporary handstand needed to reach the heights he achieved Thursday.

He said fellow WEIO athletes Billy Bodfish and Dave Thomas inspired him to push himself as far as he could go.

“It’s pretty great to know that I inspired him and helped him out with pointers, being the eyes for him where he couldn’t see what he was doing,” Thomas said.

Thomas took third place in the event when he reached his physical limit. On flat feet with his hand raised over his head, he was a few inches from touching the height of his best kick — 90 inches.

“I’m 5 inches shorter than (Cabinboy and Tumulak) and I try my best,” he said with his ever-present grin. “I know I could never match that height, but just trying to get out there is rewarding.”

When Cabinboy hit 94 inches, Tumulak, his fellow record-holder, gave him a brotherly bear hug, welcoming him to the top of the rankings. The embrace was so tight that the shirtless Cabinboy had a red hand mark on his shoulder blade for the rest of the competition.

Tumulak was the runner-up in the competition, reaching 92 inches. He battled through a sinus infection and bodyaches to nearly tie Cabinboy.

He said earlier in the afternoon that noise would be a factor. He would have preferred either quiet or a steady gush of cheers, but the broken bits of conversations, applause and crying infants made it hard to focus.

“It’s too much pressure,” he said, “but it’s OK.”

Tumulak said he looks forward to the coming years, when he expects Cabinboy and himself to kick 96 inches and higher.

“We’re going to push each other more and more, taking it to 8 feet, where I want it to be,” Tumulak said.