A 100-year-old woman with a head for heights has bested former US president George Bush senior in the daredevil stakes.

Mr Bush celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving, but Eleanor Cunningham of Howes Cave, New York, made her big leap to mark her centennial.

Ms Cunningham kissed her seven-month-old great great granddaughter before suiting up for her birthday jump at Saratoga Skydiving in Gansevoort.

But she is no beginner - it was her third jump, after taking up the sport at 90.

Her doctor signed off on the skydiving expedition, saying her health made her more than capable of doing what she loves.

Dean McDonald of Saratoga Skydiving said Ms Cunningham, who lives with her granddaughter in their Schoharie County home in central New York, was his oldest jump partner yet.

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