Sunday’s Investec Champions Cup match between Toulouse and Sale was delayed when a French paratrooper’s parachute snagged on the roof of the stadium.
Five minutes before the kick-off in the last-16 match, a gust of wind knocked captain Yannick Trouille off course, sending the paratrooper towards the roof where his parachute caught on the stadium’s structure.
The parachutist, who was supposed to bring the match ball onto the pitch, was left hanging from the roof of the stadium, some 20m above the ground, while supporters in the section beneath him were cleared out and stadium attendants and first-aid workers laid out crash mats and a tarpaulin beneath him.
After around 30 minutes dangling, he was successfully rescued by ladder.
This is how the parachuter initially got stuck.
Never seen anything like it. #InvestecChampionsCuppic.twitter.com/VLiJje7i61
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) April 6, 2025
Amazing scenes in Toulouse, parachutist rescued by the fire brigade, 25 minutes after he got caught on the stadium. Kick off against Sale delayed. Good to see him down safely pic.twitter.com/K0o4N2WIRd
— Will Rogan (@WillRogan3) April 6, 2025
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Valentine Chapuis/AFP via Getty Images
