Meet Lilou Ruel, the parkour champion taking the sport vertical

In the world of parkour, no jump is more legendary than the Manpower Gap. Located in the Parisian suburb of Évry, the feat involves a death-defying leap between the roofs of two adjoining office blocks. And if wrongly executed, it’s a lethal six-storey drop to the concrete below. 

Évry is the birthplace of David Belle, the French athlete widely regarded as the founder of parkour. Belle first completed the jump in 1998, and it’s since become something of an Everest for parkour athletes (known as traceurs) who come from around the world to attempt the stunt. But for more than two decades after Belle first made the jump, no women had ever made an attempt. 

That was until Lilou Ruel came along. While her classmates had been spending the year preparing for their high school graduation exams, the then 18-year-old Ruel spent most of 2021 year focussed on training for the feat. ​“It was a year of mental and physical preparation,” says Ruel. ​“Learning how to manage your emotions and stress. Doing a lot of breath work. Arriving in the right mental state is the most important thing. Because at times, I did really have my doubts. Was I really willing to risk my life for this challenge?” 

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In May 2022, she scaled the 20m block, perched vertiginously on the narrow concrete ledge and took the leap – landing just inches from the edge of the opposite roof. ​“It felt incredible. I was just overwhelmed by an immense sense of pride. I remember thinking: ​‘I’ve just made history in my sport.’” Ruel isn’t just proud of the physical achievement, but what the feat means for other female athletes. ​“There have since been three women to complete it. I’m so happy to have opened that door.” 

The process of preparing herself psychologically for the jump was something that changed Ruel’s entire approach to the sport. She worked intensively with mental coach Alexandre Lacaze on developing her meditation practice and learning how to use visualisations to help her achieve her goals. ​“It’s become a big part of my routine. People tell me I’m fearless. It’s not true, I’m scared a lot of the time. But it can be a positive thing, to feel afraid. You have to listen to the fear – is it something rational or not? If it is rational, it could mean you’re pushing yourself too far. Think about your physical capacity. That fear could be there for a reason.”

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But sitting still and reflecting isn’t something that’s always come easily to Ruel. Growing up close to Toulouse, she was a daredevil child. At the age of nine, she was introduced to freerunning by a neighbour who, after seeing her trying out backflips on the family trampoline, suggested she join a parkour class at his gym. She quickly developed a passion for the sport and began competing internationally at just 14, when she came third at the Air Wipp Challenge – Sweden’s premier freerunning competition. The rest of her teenage years were punctuated with trips around the world to take part in contests, and she was eventually named world champion at the Freerunning and Parkour World Cup in Bulgaria in 2021. 

It was at that point that Ruel added another string to her bow: stunt work. She was contacted by France’s leading stunt-training school, Campus Univers Cascades, asking if she had ever considered training for the industry. Intrigued, she decided to sign up. In 2022, she began a rigorous physical programme that included everything from martial arts training to learning how to safely – but convincingly – fall down the stairs, be hit by a car, or even set yourself on fire. ​“It’s really a unique experience. You’re surrounded by people who share your same passion and you push your limits together. It’s incredible, but incredibly intense too.” 

Now aged 22, Ruel has worked her way up to becoming one of France’s most sought-after body doubles. Alongside various film projects, she’s also appeared in some of the most iconic music videos of recent years – most notably for Charli xcx’s 2024 smash ​‘Von dutch’. Filmed after hours at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, Ruel was given a long, unruly black wig and filmed from behind jumping over the gates, being dragged by a floor polisher and somersaulting across plane seats. 

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Brat Summer wasn’t the only key cultural moment Ruel played a role in last year. She also made an appearance at the historically ambitious (and rainy) opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. She was one of nine parkour athletes playing the same masked torchbearer at different points during the Seine-side performance, and the only woman taking the role. ​“I only found out a couple of months before and we only spent two afternoons rehearsing. You learn how you’re going to get the torch, how the cameraman will follow you, and that’s about it. It was mad.” 

When it comes to her work schedule, no two weeks ever look the same. Home is still her parents house in Toulouse, but she spends much of her time in Paris where she often finds herself filming promotional videos for brands and companies. Recent collaborations have come with the likes of Roland Garros, for whom she starred as a ball-girl performing ever more death-defying stunts to catch a stray shot, and Meliá Hotels, who filmed Ruel leaping across Parisian rooftops as part of a social media campaign. A few days later, she was in Montmartre doing stunt work for a new film starring Mark Wahlberg, followed by a trip to a video game studio where she provided motion capture work to help create realistic movements for a new character. ​“My work is always super varied. But that’s what I love about it. It’s always fun.” 

Looking ahead, Ruel has her sights set firmly on the world of acting – but not just any acting. ​“My dream is to be an actress who does her own stunts,” she says. It has already begun to take shape: she landed her first small role last year in Cat’s Eyes, a French live-action show based on a manga series from the ​’80s. But true to form, Ruel’s ambitions blend art and adrenaline. ​“I’d love to do a scene on the roof of Versailles. To create art with my performance – that’s the goal.”

Follow Lilou Ruel on Instagram.

Hester Underhill is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.

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