Man takes epic selfie on top of Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue

Call off the Selfie Olympics. We have a winner.

Photojournalist Lee Thompson took what may be the Selfie of the Century on Saturday when he snapped himself atop the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue which towers over Rio de Janeiro.

Lee, in Brazil on assignment to cover the upcoming World Cup, managed to blag his way up to the top of the statue and tweeted the below shot:

My #selfie at the top of Christ The Redeemer statue in #Rio!
See more crazy pics here! http://t.co/RkgnT0f0Pr pic.twitter.com/fK49cK6hH5

— Lee Thompson (@flashpacklee) May 29, 2014

"As far as selfies go, I can’t compete with popes, presidents, and radical Russians, because as a photographer my job is to take the shots, not star in them," Thompson wrote in a blog post

"But when the opportunity arose to take the world’s first (and so far only) selfie with Jesus, I couldn’t resist."

Thompson, co-owner of bespoke travel adventure company The Flash Pack, said that after a severe lightning storm had damaged the statue in January, he knew that workers were busy with repairs.

"I decided to take a stab in the dark and along with my colleague, Oliver Harvey, managed to convince the Brazil tourist board to allow us to climb to the top and take some seriously vertigo-inducing photographs."

They even shot a video, too:

"As I popped my head out of the hole in Jesus’ crown, I was in total and utter awe," Thompson wrote.

"I’ve never been afraid of heights or tight spaces, but experiencing acrophobia, claustrophobia and profound awe at the same time was something truly remarkable."

- Check out more amazing photos here