Olympics 2012: London Mayor Boris Johnson gets stuck on zip-wire over Victoria Park

GAME for a laugh Boris Johnson dangled in mid-air yesterday — after getting stuck on an Olympics zip wire.

The London Mayor was heard shouting: “Get me a rope, get me a ladder!” as he hung in his harness on the sagging 1,000ft-long line.

Boris, who was wearing a blue safety helmet and waving two Union Jack flags, waited for organisers to haul him the last 65 feet to the end of the ride. He joked: “I think the brakes got stuck.”

The mishap happened as Boris, 48, visited the BT London Live event for the Olympics in Victoria Park, Hackney, East London. It prompted roars of laughter from the crowd below. And it sparked a rash of jokey comments on Twitter.

LONDON Mayor gets stuck in mid-air while riding line that's part of the London 2012 Olympic celebrations

The Mayor’s sister Rachel Johnson said: “He’s won gold in the flying coxless wedgie.”

Rosie Waldron wrote: “Best day of Olympics so far — two golds but Boris left dangling has made my day.”

Comedian Chris Brosnahan joked: “Boris Johnson stuck on a zip wire holding two GB flags is, I think, what most of us were expecting the opening ceremony to be more like.”

Green Wing actor Stephen Mangan 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.” Cricket legend Graeme Swann said: “Yet another reason to adore Uncle Boris.”

Twitter user HannARGH posted a link to a video of the Mayor’s embarrassing moment and wrote: “Boris just hanging around in London.” Canadian Bruce Arthur posted: “The only thing that would make the Bradley Wiggins medal ceremony at Hampton Court more picturesque — Boris Johnson on a zip line.”

Acrobatics ... Boris Johnson dangles from zip line

Duncan Wilson tweeted: “What a day. Wiggins immense, rowing gold and Boris Johnson stuck on a zip wire.”

And Adrian Hearn said the sight of Boris was like “a mistreated orangutan forced to perform for paying punters at an Eastern European circus”.

A spokesperson for Boris said: “Fortunately, the Mayor survived his first zip wire experience. Clearly the judges are likely to mark him down for artistic interpretation. Unlike Team GB, he won’t be bagging any gold medals. But he remains unbowed.”

Predictably for Boris, his antics yesterday were seen to boost his popularity with the public. Many Tory voters, frustrated by the Coalition with the Liberal Democrats, believe he should lead them into the next election — despite the fact that he is not even an MP. And he has been accused of plotting to replace David Cameron as Tory leader.

Mishap ... Boris Johnson

Barcroft Media

Even the PM admitted the zip wire fiasco could boost Boris’s career.

He said: “If any other politician was stuck on a zip wire it would be a disaster. For Boris, it’s an absolute triumph.”

And Labour MP Stephen Pound said: “People will love him even more for this. Everyone I’ve spoken to said ‘Good old Boris’. David Cameron can feel Boris’s hot breath on his neck.”

A YouGov survey for The Sun showed Labour’s current poll lead would be slashed to one point if Boris was Conservative leader.

It revealed 34 per cent of people would vote for a Cameron-led Tory party, while 40 per cent would vote for Ed Miliband’s Labour. But if Boris was leader, support for the Tories would rise to 37 per cent, while Labour’s would fall to 38 per cent.

At the moment, support for Labour is at 43 per cent, with the Tories on 32 per cent and Lib Dems on 10 per cent.

Not flagging ... Boris Johnson dangles from zip line

k.schofield@the-sun.co.uk

Doctored Johnson

JOKERS soon had the internet hooting at Boris’s predicament — superimposing the image of him dangling from the zip wire on to dozens of different backgrounds.

They included hovering above Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible, hanging from the hands of Big Ben’s clock, flying through the factory chimneys in the Opening Ceremony and floating over MPs in the Commons.

Hang tough ... Boris with Cruise

Give him a big hand ... on Big Ben

Mayory Poppins ... at ceremony

Right swing ... inside Commons

- ORGANISERS have been rapped for not having enough drinking water at venues — where it is given away free. Games monitor, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, said: “They have been caught unaware and a number have run out.”