Fans have started to add Alex Honnold’s name to the GOAT conversation after his latest feat.
The world’s most famous rock climber did the unthinkable Saturday, completing the free solo of the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan. Free solo is a form of rock climbing without the use of any harnesses, ropes, or other safety equipment, making any serious fall or slip-up potentially fatal.
Honnold scaled the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 building live on Netflix for the world to see. The entire thing took just over an hour and a half of non-stop climbing.
Alex Honnold waves to the crowd as he begins his free solo climb of Taipei 101. One of the tallest buildings in the world.
— Netflix (@netflix) January 25, 2026
LIVE right now on Netflix. #SkyscraperLive pic.twitter.com/xTP2pdR6mo
Taipei 101 is the 11th-tallest building on the planet. It held the tallest-in-the-world crown from 2004 to 2009 before the Burj Khalifa surpassed it.
After doing what no human had ever done before, Honnold stood atop the tower and soaked in an incredible view of Taipei from above.
ALEX HONNOLD AFTER COMPLETING HIS FREE SOLO OF TAIPEI 101: "Sick."
— Netflix (@netflix) January 25, 2026
The 101 story climb took 1 hour and 35 minutes #SkyscraperLIVE pic.twitter.com/TIzeRqiUcM
Millions around the world witnessed Honnold’s achievement. Many felt like the feat solidified Honnold as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
@AlexHonnold is the most impressive athlete I’ve ever seen.
— Matt Beaudreau (@MattBeaudreau) January 25, 2026
In a world clamoring for division, mediocrity, & the artificial, he’s a breath of fresh air.
Actually- I can’t breathe watching anything he does.
An old fashioned dose of an ordinary guy doing the extraordinary.
Alex Honnold has to be in the Greatest Athlete of All-Time conversation now.
— Anthony Pompliano 🌪 (@APompliano) January 25, 2026
Alex Honnold was already in the top 3, but I think he just solidified himself being the greatest athlete of all time. pic.twitter.com/DMPF88mPBT
— Create Profit (@Create_Profit) January 25, 2026
Alex Honnold is one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever seen. What he just did live from Taipei is insane and astonishing.
— Mark Gray-Mendes (@TJCoachMark) January 25, 2026
Humanity is amazing and worth saving. pic.twitter.com/i7pTvjGS9M
Some took it a step further, dubbing Honnold’s undertaking one of the greatest displays of physical excellence in human history.
Alex Honnold genuinely just put up the greatest performance in the history of man. I don’t just mean athletically or anything similar. That was the greatest thing man has ever accomplished @netflix @AlexHonnold
— sga is my goat (@NPH1020) January 25, 2026
Alex Honnold is one of the great humans of our time
— Tanner Coerr (@scorebug) January 25, 2026
The crazy thing is that Honnold’s free solo of Taipei 101 was not even close to his toughest climb. The 40-year-old famously did a free solo of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot granite rock formation found in Yosemite Park. The 2017 accomplishment, which was chronicled in the 2018 documentary “Free Solo”, was what first gave Alex a global spotlight.
While the free solo of El Capitan was objectively a more difficult task than what Honnold did Saturday at the Taipei 101 building, risking death on a Netflix live stream is in a category of its own.
