Skater leaps from the Eiffel Tower setting world record
digitaljournal.com
( Only in France! Video )
Tourists at the Eiffel Tower witnessed a rollerblader breaking a world record Saturday by jumping from the French landmark onto a huge ramp, while thousands of spectators below cheered him on and into the ranks of the Guinness Book of World Records.
On Saturday world champion skater Taïg Khris set a new Guinness world record by jumping off the Eiffel Tower with roller skates on. Some fans waited nervously for Khris to complete the jump, while others cheered him on when it took a second attempt to break the record.
The skater, who calls himself the "ramp warrior", according to Sky News, lost his footing on landing on his first attempt but decided to have another go.
The second time round he found his feet and set a new world record for the highest jump on roller skates ever to take place in the world.
The Eiffel Tower is an 1889 iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair.
The tower stands 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest man-made structure in the world from its completion until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France after the 2004 Millau Viaduct.
Taig Khris saw the Eiffel Tower as a challenge for an extreme sports in-line skating champion. So he jumped from the bottom section of the tower dropping 10m before landing on a 30m-high ramp covered with foam blocks to break his fall and slow down the slide on the landing.
After completing the jumps, he said:"Two years non-stop, I didn't sleep for nights and nights for that small moment up there and now, as you can see, I made it so that's cool."
Taig is already planning his future record setting adventure but is mum for now on where it will be staged or from what extreme height he will jump from on his next challenge. |
