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French jetpack inventor injured after plunging into lake

Franky Zapata, creator of the 'flyboard', has been injured after crashing into a lake in his hometown of Biscarrosse.

Published: 29 May 2022 11:27 CEST
Franky Zapata has been dubbed 'the flying man' by French media.
Franky Zapata has been dubbed 'the flying man' by French media. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

After falling some 15 meters into a lake having seemingly lost control of his jetpack, Franky Zapata has been placed under observation at hospital. 

Officials told French media that the 40-year-old was conscious and showing “good sensitivity and motor skills”. 

The inventor had been giving a demonstration of the ‘flyboard’ in his hometown of Biscarrosse when the crash took place. 

Zapata has built a reputation as somewhat of a mad scientist in France. 

He shot to fame after zooming over a military parade on his flyboard as part of the 2019 Bastille Day celebrations. Three weeks later, he managed to fly over the English Channel in just 22 minutes using the machine. 

The flyboard, sadly, is not commercially available. 

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Paris Olympics organisers deny athletes’ beds are ‘anti-sex’

They may be made of cardboard, but the beds at the athletes' village for this year's Paris Olympics have been chosen for their environmental credentials, not to prevent competitors having sex, organisers said.

Published: 18 May 2024 13:19 CEST
Paris Olympics organisers deny athletes' beds are 'anti-sex'

The clarification came after fresh reports that the beds, manufactured by Japanese company Airweave and already used during the Tokyo 2020 Games, were to deter athletes from jumping under the covers together in the City of Love.

“We know the media has had a lot of fun with this story since Tokyo 2020, but for Paris 2024 the choice of these beds for the Olympic and Paralympic Village is primarily linked to a wider ambition to ensure minimal environmental impact and a second life for all equipment,” a spokesman for the Paris Games told AFP.

The bed bases are made from recycled cardboard, but during a demonstration in July last year Airweave founder Motokuni Takaoka jumped on one of them and stressed that they “can support several people on top”.

The Paris Games spokesman underlined that “the quality of the furniture has been rigorously tested to ensure it is robust, comfortable and appropriate for all the athletes who will use it, and who span a very broad range of body types – from gymnasts to judokas”.

The fully modular Airweave beds can be customised to accommodate long and large body sizes, with the mattresses — made out of resin fibre — available with different firmness levels.

After the Games, the bed frames will be recycled while the mattresses and pillows will be donated to schools or associations.

Athletes will sleep in single beds, two or three to a room, in the village, a newly built complex close to the main athletics stadium in a northern suburb of the capital.

A report this week in the New York Post tabloid entitled “‘Anti-sex’ beds have arrived at Paris Olympics” was reported by other media and widely circulated on social media.

Similar claims went viral before the Tokyo Olympics, sometimes fanned by athletes themselves.

To debunk them, Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan filmed a video of himself jumping repeatedly on a bed to demonstrate their solidity.

At those Games, during the coronavirus pandemic, organisers, however, urged athletes to “avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact”.

In March, Laurent Dalard, in charge of first aid and health services at Paris 2024, said around 200,000 condoms for men and 20,000 for women will be made available at the athletes’ village during the Games.

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