‘Bungy-Jumping’ Debuts in Paris

PARIS —  A visitor from New Zealand who said he wanted to introduce a new sport to Paris dived off the Eiffel Tower and was yanked up 10 feet short of the pavement by an elastic cord tied around his ankles.

“It’s a certain risk. If something goes wrong, you die. But really, it’s very relaxing,” said Alan John Hackett, 29, after startling tourists Thursday with his leap.

He dived through the open center of the tower’s second level, 360 feet off the ground. Footage of the stunt taken by a Paris photo agency showed him plunging from the tower, the elastic cord unfurling behind him.

The cord ran out about 10 feet above the ground, and he bounced up again beyond the first level, about 200 feet from the ground. After several more bounces, he came to rest.

The three-level Eiffel Tower is 1,052 feet tall.

Hackett, who was briefly detained by authorities, said he wanted to bring the sport of “bungy-jumping” to Paris and felt that the city’s most famous landmark was the best place to do it.