Phil Gaimon's Everest record broken after just four days

Phil Gaimon has had his Everesting record beaten just four days after his successful attempt.

The retired American pro ascended the required 8,848m in seven hours and 52 minutes, beating the previous record by 37 minutes.

However, another American has now taken a further 24 minutes out of the best-ever time, completing the challenge in just seven hours and 40 minutes.

Keegan Swenson, of Park City, Utah, rode a stretch of road just south of his home in order to take the record.

Cycling just under 170km in 7-51-45, Swenson hit the record 11 minutes before the end of his ride, averaging a speed of 21.6km/h while hitting a maximum of 94.3km/h on the descents. His average heart rate was 152bpm, reaching a maximum of 174bpm during the ride, while his weighted average power was 263 watts. "I am 100 per cent shelled," Swenson said afterwards.

"First of all I want to thank everyone who sent me the direct messages and comments telling me I lost my Everesting record," Gaimon said, tongue-in-cheek, in a YouTube video.

"The previous record stood from 2017, I took it by just under 40 minutes and I kept it for a whole four days, I hadn't even finished drinking the champagne yet. It was taken by Keegan Swenson, I want to hate him but he seems like a nice guy."

"I hadn't even finished editing the video [documenting my ride] when I lost the record so it really ruined my whole parade to where [I was thinking] do I even post the videos or do I just crawl up in the fetal position and cry for a few days. The answer is I did both."

But has Gaimon accepted defeat? Not yet, and has even started searching for other possible hills in Los Angeles, but has asked for help.

"I won't go down without a fight, I don't know where I can find ten minutes...I need to find a better hill. The only way I'm going to beat this record is if I find a steeper, longer hill, so I'm asking for your help. What I'm looking for in the hill is it needs to be straight up and down, so no hairpins on the downhill, no braking, if you've got something that's 20 per cent - awesome."