French athlete breaks world rope climbing record in Eiffel Tower escapade

France’s two-time world obstacle course champion Anouk Garnier roped her way 110m up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday, laying down a new world record and sending out a strong symbol of sporting achievement in the run-up to the Paris Games.

French athlete Anouk Garnier rope climbs up the Eiffel Tower in a bid to break the world record, at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on April 10, 2024. AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

Garnier spent more than a year preparing to climb Paris's "iron lady" but it took her just 18 minutes to reach the second floor – 110m above the ground.

A climb that could would give most common mortals vertigo, but Garnier said she didn't suffer too much.

"I'm very focused on what I have to do, where I put my feet, I release a bit of tension in my arms, I take little breaks to relax. At that stage, I don't feel dizzy,"  she told BFM television.

The moment when she reached the top and had to let go of the rope did make her head spin a bit. But “it was such an amazing experience, an unbelievable opportunity, I really made the most of it", she said.

Garnier uses the moniker "the unstoppable" on her Instagram account, and her activities include mental strength coaching.

The Eiffel Tower challenge was also about raising funds for a cause close to her heart.

“My mother is suffering from cancer so it was important for me to push my limits for a good cause – to advance research into cancer treatment,” she told the tv station.

En direct, Anouk Garnier est en pleine tentative de record du monde de grimpé de corde le plus long essaie d'atteindre le deuxième étage de la Tour Eiffel #BonjourLaMatinaleTF1 pic.twitter.com/JazXL18MCJ

— TF1Info (@TF1Info) April 10, 2024

Crazy challenges

Paris's emblematic Eiffel Tower has long been a magnet for tourists, but it also draws people looking for "crazy challenges"  François Martins, president of the monument's operating company (SETE), told BFM.

In 1889 when Gustave Eiffel unveiled the monument to the world, Sylvain Dornon, a baker and former shepherd from the  Arcachon region near Bordeaux, made his way up the 674 steps from the ground to the second floor on stilts.

Then, as part of the 2000th anniversary of Paris in 1951, American acrobats performed a trapeze number 120 metres above the ground without a safety net.

In May 2010, the triple rolling skating champion Taïg Khris took a leap of faith, jumping from the Eiffel Tower onto a 40-metre ramp built alongside the famous landmark.

His record-breaking drop of 12.5m was the highest ever inline skate drop into a halfpipe.

Garnier's new record may be less dramatic, but her achievement through hard work and determination sends out a strong symbolic message in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, where she will carry the Olympic flame.

"We're getting ready to be, if not at the centre of the Games, a unique vantage point," Martins said. "The Tower is getting in tune with this Olympic year."

French athlete Anouk Garnier succeeded in breaking the world record for rope climbing up the Eiffel Tower on 10 April 2024. AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

Earlier this week, SETE announced that the five Olympic rings will be displayed on the Eiffel Tower, on the side facing the Seine river.

Martins said work to set the rings on the tower would begin at the end of the month after the Olympic torch has left ancient Olympia in Greece. 

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