Tightrope walker Nathan Paulin broke his world record for distance on Tuesday at Mont Saint-Michel on a 2,200-meter-long slackline connecting a crane to the abbey, claimed his team.
Nathan Paulin, a 28-year-old "
highliner
", fell on the strap a few meters from the finish "
for safety reasons
", said those around him.
"
He couldn't walk to the end,
" Alexandre Gomez de Miranda, the event's security manager, told AFP.
"
He hit the stop mark and therefore the record was broken
," said Laura Zhang, press relations officer for the tightrope walker.
Nathan Paulin set off at 5:30 p.m. from the top of a crane located 114 meters above the ground, near the Couesnon dam, according to AFP journalists.
Attached by a harness and secured by a lifeline, he advanced step by step, barefoot, on the two centimeter wide strap, before reaching the abbey shortly before 7:30 p.m.
In 2017, he set the previous length record by crossing 1,662 meters at 300 meters high in the Cirque de Navacelles (Gard and Hérault).
The weather finally turned out to be rather mild: despite a few gusts at the start of the afternoon, neither the rain nor the wind disturbed the crossing, which took place under a bright sun.
First length record in 2014
The choice of Mont Saint-Michel was imposed, "
simply because it is a magnificent place that attracted me
" but also because "
it is important to show this heritage in a different way
", explained Nathan Paulin to AFP before his feat.
He was to give a press conference in the early evening.
Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay have been classified by Unesco as a world heritage site since 1979. Nathan Paulin is a regular at spectacular crossings.
He set his first length record in 2014, covering 601 meters in the Lyon region.
His second record was established in 2015 when he crossed 403 meters in Reunion: a feat increased to 1,020 meters in length in 2016 in the Alpes-Maritimes.
On two occasions, Nathan Paulin had also linked the Eiffel Tower to the Trocadéro in 2017 and in 2021.