Skate-jump off Eiffel Tower lands record

Extreme in-line skating champion Taig Khris set a new world freefall record of 12.5 metres (41 feet) in France on Saturday when he launched himself off the Eiffel Tower onto a ramp.

Dropping from the first floor of the Tower some 40 metres above ground onto a quarterpipe, Frenchman Khris ended his run in a giant airbag.

"I've never had such a strong adrenaline rush," he told AFP after the vertiginous jump, in which he beat the 8.53-metre record set by American Danny Way.

He said he made the jump "to give people the desire to reach beyond their limits, to follow their passions, their dreams."