London mayor left hanging in mid-air
August 2nd, 2012 - 3:56 pm ICT by IANS
London, Aug 2 (IANS) Mayor of London Boris Johnson got stuck on a zip wire and dangled in mid-air during a promotional event for the Olympics, prompting roars of laughter from the watching crowd and sparking a volley of comments on Twitter.
The 48-year-old mayor was heard shouting, “Get me a rope, get me a ladder!” as he hung Wednesday on the 1,000-feet-long line, The Sun reported Thursday.
Johnson, who was visiting the BT London Live event in Victoria Park in east London, was wearing a blue safety helmet and waving two Union Jack flags, and had to wait for organisers to haul him the last 65 feet to the end of the wire.
“I think the brakes got stuck,” he said.
His act prompted laughter from the crowd, while the internet was packed with images of Johnson’s predicament. A photo was superimposed onto many different backgrounds.
They included Johnson hovering above Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible”, hanging from the hands of Big Ben’s clock, flying through the Olympics opening ceremony and floating over MPs in the House of Commons.
A user said the sight of Johnson was like “a mistreated orangutan forced to perform for paying punters at an Eastern European circus”.
Stephen Mangan, actor in TV series “Green Wing”, wrote: “Just had a vision of 2019, Boris representing us at G8 Summit as PM, big clown feet, red nose, spinning bow tie, custard pie-ing Merkel.”
- London mayor doesn't want to be PM - Aug 09, 2012
- Rupert Murdoch wants Boris to lead the Tories - Aug 01, 2012
- Olympic rings launched on Thames - Feb 29, 2012
- British guard stuns paperless Cameron - Jul 31, 2012
- London launches Paralympic torch relay - Aug 24, 2012
- London mayor joins preparation for 2012 Games - Mar 17, 2012
- Coe promises 'safe and secure' Games - Jul 21, 2012
- West Ham beat Tottenham for Olympic Stadium takeover bid - Feb 12, 2011
- British PM plays tennis with London mayor - Sep 09, 2011
- Cheeky fox takes late night tube ride - Aug 09, 2012
- Trafalgar Square's Olympic Clock stops working - Mar 16, 2011
- Overseas businesses in London see benefits from 2012 Olympics - Jun 17, 2011
- London Mayor Boris Johnson fails to get Olympic tickets - Jun 02, 2011
- Beckham, five young guns to bring Olympic Flame to UK - May 16, 2012
- London Mayor upbeat over upcoming Olympics - Jul 20, 2012
Tags: aug 2, big ben, boris johnson, bow tie, clown feet, east london, european circus, london mayor, mayor of london, mid air, mistreated, olympics opening ceremony, orangutan, punters, red nose, safety helmet, stephen mangan, tom cruise, victoria park, zip wire