WATCH: London Mayor Gets Stuck on Zipline During Olympics
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LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages(LONDON) — If ziplining ever debuts as an Olympic sport, don’t expect to see London Mayor Boris Johnson on the medal stand.
The eccentric mayor, who has seemingly been everywhere to promote the Olympics now underway in his city, found himself stuck dangling in the air this afternoon after taking the inaugural ride down a zipline set up in Victoria Park to promote the Games.
Johnson, 48, a member of the country’s Conservative party, gamely strapped on a harness and a hard hat and attempted to sail down the 1,050-foot line while also holding two Union Jack flags. Instead of achieving a gold medal-worthy landing, Johnson ground to a halt about 65 feet from the end of the line and was stuck dangling above a crowd full of bemused and bewildered spectators below.
“Get me a rope, get me a ladder,” Johnson is heard saying in video captured by British news agency ITV. “I think the brakes got stuck.”
Eyewitnesses told U.K. newspaper The Telegraph that Johnson was stranded for nearly five minutes before park officials successfully pulled him down to the end of the line with a rope.
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