French athlete attempts climbing record after scaling Eiffel Tower

A French climber attempted to break the world rope climbing record after scaling up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Wednesday.

Anouk Garnier scaled a free-hanging rope nearly 361 feet (110 meters) in 18 minutes – two minutes faster than expected. Garnier’s time beats the previous rope climbing world record and the female rope climbing record. 

“My dream has come true. It’s magical,” the 34-year-old climber told reporters after her feat. “If there was one thing I never doubted, it was that I was going to do it.”

She added: “There were many ups and downs on the way to this record. The weather wasn’t always my ally and we had to coordinate the agendas of all those involved in this monumental project. But I never stopped believing in it. The satisfaction and joy I derive from it today are all the greater. It’s a crazy dream come true.”

Garnier, who is an obstacle course racer, told reporters she also did the climb to raise money for cancer prevention and support. She said her mother was diagnosed with the disease.

“I saw her struggling so much. I wanted to do my bit,” Garnier said.

The previous world record was held by South African athlete Thomas Van Tonder, who climbed 295 feet (90 meters) up a robe between the Soweto Towers in Johannesburg in 2020. Danish athlete Ida Mathilde Steensgaard held the female record after climbing 85 feet (26 meters) at the Copenhagen Opera House in 2022. Garnier’s new record time has not yet been validated by Guinness World Records.

Garnier told reporters it was Steensgaard’s climb that inspired her to attempt her record.

“I said to myself: 26 meters (85 feet) isn’t that far, what monument could I climb?” she told AFP.

Garnier said it started to “hurt a lot” around the 262-foot (80 meters) mark.

The two-time world obstacle course champion trained for a year before her attempt on Wednesday. “I’ve visualized this moment so much, worked so hard for a year to get here that I can’t believe it’s really happened,” she said, according to CBS News partner BBC News.

Garnier told reporters she plans to return to obstacle racing and will carry the Olympic torch in Marseille in May.

“I’m in great shape and I intend to keep it up for the next 10 years,” she said.