By Martin Ruffell
MEET THE urban Tarzan who has replaced trees with scaffolding.
Parkour athlete, Oliver Thorpe (29) showed ninja-like athleticism to perform the seriously impressive sequence of swings where he lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The video shows the Australian-born freerunner traverse across four horizontal metal bars measuring at least 12 feet apart, avoiding falling into the water below. The stunt was rounded off beautifully as he leapt from the last bar onto the stone wall some ten feet below, showing amazing accuracy and strength to hold on tight.
However, Oliver is no stranger to urban antics like this, having trained in parkour for over 14 years and has even set up his own online coaching business, Ascending Strength. Yet even after all that time, he explains that performing such an impressive feat takes real preparation.
“Some friends of mine found the scaffolding about a week earlier and I thought I need to have a go at this,” he said.
“It took a while to commit to it and I prepared for it in stages.”
But when it came to performing the stunt for real, Oliver made clear that there is no room for doubt to creep in.
“When I did it, my head was completely empty,” he said.
“I haven’t been injured too much thankfully and although it is in the back of my mind, it is not something I focus on.
“The risk is just part of the game.”
