London mayor gets stuck on zip wire

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London mayor gets stuck on zip wire

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London Mayor Boris Johnson got stuck riding a zip wire during London 2012 Olympic celebrations.

01 August,2012 10:26 pm

Boris Johnson Mayor of London got stuck dangling in mid-air while riding a zip wire as part of the London 2012 Olympic celebrations.Mr Johnson was featuring as a “special guest” in Victoria Park, London, to ride the zip line, donning a hard hat and two Union flags as he attempted to sail down.Instead, he ground steadily to a halt on the wire about 20m from the end as the wire sagged, and was left dangling inelegantly in front of a watching crowd.The Mayor spent around five minutes hanging from the drooping line as spectators took video footage and photographs of his misfortune.When one asked how he was feeling, he replied “very, very well thank you”, before shouting: Get me a rope, get me a ladder to bystanders.“It’s very, very well organised,” he assured them. “It’s going well so far. Right.” According to eyewitnesses, he spent the intervening minutes waving his flags and leading the audience in cheering on British gold medal-winning rowers.Eventually, staff came to his rescue and used a rope to tow him to the bottom of the line.He later admitted: “I wouldn’t want to be up there all afternoon.”When asked how he got stuck, he told ITV news: “I don’t know to be honest. I seemed to turn round. Possibly what had happened is that they left a brake on or something.“But anyway, it was wonderful and I thoroughly recommend it.”The cause of the incident has not yet been confirmed, but it is understood to be down to a loss of momentum as the wire sagged lower than expected. Other visitors to Victoria Park are believed to have since used it successfully.A spokesman for Mr Johnson told reporters he remained unbowed by the incident, adding: The judges will rightly be marking him down for artistic impression.Eyewitness Peter Downes, 14, from Canterbury, said the Mayor appeared to gradually slow down when he was around 20m from the end of the line, before rolling backwards to a stop.Peter, who is in London with his family for the Olympics, said: “He seems like a really fun guy. It was hilarious. I don’t know how he kept his cool, but he just went out of his way to win over the audience while he was up there.“He just hung there with his two British flags waving.“People were shouting up to ask how he was, and he said he was feeling very well thank you, then asked for a rope.“After a while, he started getting the crowd to cheer for the rowers who won a gold medal.“It was really funny.”