Masked Olympic torchbearer ‘frustrated’ after everyone thought it was a man

Lilou Ruel, a 21-year-old French freerunner, has revealed she was the lone pistillate to play the masked Olympic torchbearer astatine the opening ceremonial successful Paris.

The mysterious acrobat was seen jumping their mode done the streets of Paris and astir the iconic monuments successful the French superior during the Olympic opening ceremonial successful July.

Simon Nogueira, a French free-running champion, revealed aft the lawsuit that helium was 1 of 9 radical down the mask.

Ruel has present travel guardant arsenic the lone pistillate who was asked to represent the Olympic torchbearer and admits she is ‘frustrated’ that the nationalist were led to judge that it was a man.

‘Even if this quality was expected to stay masked, the information that everyone thinks that determination is lone a antheral oregon lone men underneath, frustrated maine a lot… and I wanted to beryllium them wrong,’ Ruel told Le Parisien.

‘A period and a fractional earlier the ceremony, Vincent Zenzel [the choreographer] contacted us, maine and 8 different guys, a period and a fractional earlier the ceremony, successful precise secret, precise confidential conditions.

‘We knew precise small astir what we were going to do. We learned successful July that we would person 2 oregon 3 days of rehearsal, to beryllium acceptable connected July 26.’

Ruel besides revealed that she recovered it hard to execute helium acrobatics whilst holding the Olympic torch, which was 70cm gangly and weighed 1.5kg.

‘The ambiance was conscionable crazy. There was a batch of emotion and adrenaline, you felt similar thing large was happening,’ said Ruel.

‘I did 2 stunts earlier I got the flame, which is very, precise big, truthful it was astir intolerable to bash a leap with it.

‘We had this mask, a spot similar a fencer… but worse, it was similar putting our heads successful a colander.

‘In the end, a compromise was found, to support the guys hooked, truthful that everything was ace safe.’

Ruel besides confirmed that she was the masked torchbearer erstwhile again during the Olympic Champions Parade successful Paris earlier this month.

‘Vincent Zenzel wanted it to beryllium the lone miss among the masked torchbearers who would adjacent this beauteous story, truthful I americium precise honoured,’ said Ruel.

By revealing her identity, Ruel said that she wanted to ‘show that girls tin signifier Parkour. And an accidental to amusement millions, billions of people, that determination is simply a miss nether this mask, it’s important’.

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