One man wanted to show the Olympics crowd what he was made of this past weekend prior to the Olympics closing ceremony. Associated Press reports that French police evacuated the area after a man attempted to free-solo climb the 1,083-foot tall tower just hours before the ceremony on Sunday.
The man was shirtless and had made his way above the Olympic rings adorning the monument before police apprehended him. Kevin Winston took a video of the man when he was just above the blue ring. He shared the video to X, saying: “Some guy is climbing on the Olympic Rings at the Eiffel Tower. You can see him on the blue ring.”
Watch a man (identified below) climb the Eiffel Tower from different views here:
Some guy is climbing on the Olympic Rings at the Eiffel Tower. You can see him on the blue ring.
Tourists are being evacuated for safety. Entry beneath the tower is closed.
He took ‘climb the Eiffel Tower’ too literally! #Olympics #Paris2024 @NBCOlympics @NBCNews @latimes pic.twitter.com/01BFmJqTOV
— kevinwinston (@kevinwinston) August 11, 2024
Here are more photos and videos from a person who was on the tower’s viewing platform:
Visiting the Eiffeltower just got a little more thrilling 😮🧗🏽♂️#roofer #freesolo #eiffeltower #toureiffel #paris2024 #urbanclimber pic.twitter.com/MdbkacWTbR
— mchristian (@mchristian__) August 11, 2024
X user @mchristian__ also also shared this video, in which the man says, “Bloody warm, innit?”:
#eiffeltower #roofer #secoursenmontagne #freesolo pic.twitter.com/gV3uIQAUTf
— mchristian (@mchristian__) August 11, 2024
Turns Out, It Was a British Stunt Man
The man climbing the Eiffel Tower was Louis Davis, a British professional climber and stunt coordinator. DailyMail reports that Davis now faces a charge of “endangering the lives of others,” which could cost him £12,800 and some prison time.
Here’s more video from The Associated Press:
Have you ever seen an urban climber doing something like this?