With over 8500 skydives, several awards won for both freestyle and freefly skydiving, Roberta Mancino is, without doubt the world’s hottest daredevil. And it doesn’t stop there – Roberta is also a base jumper, wingsuit flyer and a model, having covered magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, Maxim and now HisPotion. Did I mention she’s the first lady to have skydived in the nude? Now that I have your attention, check out the interview and the photo gallery below.
When did you first discover you were such an adrenaline junkie? Did you do any other sports before you started jumping from airplanes?
Roberta Mancino: Honestly I don’t know. I guess when I started to skydive in 2000 but I always wanted to fly since I was little. I’m not sure if I like all this adrenaline feeling, I’m scared when I’m up there just like anyone else. Before flying and diving with animals I did many other sports starting with classic ballet at the age of 4 and kick boxing and boxing at the age of 14.
What do you consider to be the biggest achievement of your career so far?
Roberta Mancino: To be able to express my passions and my sports in so many different artistic ways.
Are your days of skydiving naked over or are you still up for it if the opportunity arises?
Roberta Mancino: I won’t skydive naked for fun, I never did but it was a job for a magazine and if it is a really good magazine or commercial maybe I would do it again but not for a low budget 🙂
Are men intimidated by you?
Roberta Mancino: I don’t think so but I heard that a few times.
[adsense300gray]Your entourage consists mostly of guys, so you’re probably used to their ways by now. What makes a man stand out and what can he say or do to draw your attention?
Roberta Mancino: In general they all look strong and they are cool but the ones who stand out more for me are the sweet guys, the ones that even if they do crazy hardcore things, they are still humble and gentlemen and treat the girls nice. I’m lucky because my friends and my boyfriend are like that and they all make me laugh a lot. It’s very rare that someone is rude to me, sometimes they say something funny to make me feel like I’m just a girl but they like to joke a lot too.
In turn, pick an item from HisPotion that you think would impress the man in your life.
Roberta Mancino: I think the Phantom 2 Vision, I know he would love one!
Contrary to how most people feel, you say you’re not afraid of sharks. Are they your favorite sea creatures or has any other scaly animal stole your heart?
Roberta Mancino: The sharks are my favorites but of course I love all the other animals in the water. I’m in love with Falcons now.
Have you ever got injured badly? Do you have any scars that tell a brave or cool story?
Roberta Mancino: Thankfully I haven’t been hurt in so many years, no scars yet.
We’re curious to know about your experience performing stunts for Iron Man 3. Was it different from what you usually do? Are you considering a career in the movie business?
Roberta Mancino: It was the same as when you do freefly skydives, you still have to fly good to be in the right place but acting like you don’t know how to fly and just falling out of control from an airplane that just exploded was not easy sometimes. What was very different was the zip line which I’ve never done before, only stunt people usually do that, not skydivers. I would love to do more stunts for movies, it was very fun and for sure not boring. And yes I would like a career in the movie business if I could do my own stunts, not just act.
Without question, you can already be called an accomplished athlete, but you always seem to be in search of new activities. What other sports are you planning on trying out in the future?
Roberta: I would love to learn how to Surf and train more Stunt skills
You’ve talked a few times about your plan of diving out of an airplane only to re-enter it some time afterwards, in mid-flight. Have you achieved that goal?
Roberta: Unfortunately not yet because I still haven’t found the right sponsor to support the project.
What is your favorite drop zone and why do you like it?
Roberta: Probably skydive Fano because they are very good friends and the view of the sea and the food is amazing!
What else do you enjoy doing besides extreme sports?
Roberta: Cooking, dancing, exercise, swimming, watch movie and cuddle with my boyfriend.
[adsense300gray]Does modeling excite you as much as flying does?
Roberta: Not really. Sometimes it can be boring but I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing photographers with fun and exciting ideas.
Are there usually any other female competitors in your line of work or are you pretty much an exception in a male-dominated field?
Roberta: We are not many girls, for example, at the last competition I’ve attended, there were only 5 girls against 50 guys.
Here, at Hispotion, we like to allow our guests to share a bit of their life philosophy with us, so we’ll ask you our final customary question and thank you for the wonderful conversation. So, Roberta, why did the chicken cross the road?
Roberta: To avoid the crazy Italians drivers? 🙂
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You can follow Roberta on her facebook page.
Photo Credits: Kristian Schmidt, Shawn Heinrichs, Noah Bahnson, Jeb Corliss, Marco Glaviano, Stefano Manfredini, Emma Casagrande