Parkour is an Olympic sport where athletes attempt to gain from one point to the next in a challenging physical environment, while maintaining or improving their personal best. The moves of this sport are characterized by fast sprints, jumps, and turns, coupled with the lifting of the body from a resting position. It was first identified as a national event in France in 1976. Since then, it has gained widespread popularity across the globe, being showcased in prestigious sporting events such as the Olympic Games in China, Sydney and London.
In its purest form, parkour is defined as a means to learn parkour while keeping all forms of safety in mind. This may not be very easy to achieve given the fact that it entails various grace, balance and gymnastics skills. The skills taught during the learning process are quite different from those practiced on a competitive level. In addition, the physical demands involved are significantly higher when it comes to freerunning and other types of parkour.
So, what makes parkour a truly gripping sport? The answer is quite simple: its simplicity. While skateboarding, dirt jumping and other extreme sports have their own distinct appeal as activities, there is something about parkour that makes it very different. For one thing, parkour is a low risk sport, especially considering the fact that you are not trying to carry an advanced and expensive sports equipment, or to perform difficult tricks.
Parkour is also considered to be a versatile form of athletic activity, allowing all kinds of participants to participate. This is very different from most other forms of extreme sports and gymnastics. With other types of gymnastics, you either need to be skilled in the sport of gymnastics or you need to be skilled in another sport as well (such as skating). With parkour, you needn’t worry about this at all, as parkour is not dependent on your expertise in other activities; you can simply use parkour to climb up the walls or to simply go up and down ledges and etc.
So, why is parkour an Olympic sport? Well, because it is a combination of three very useful sports that the I.O.U. team recommends for inclusion in the Olympics. These sports are: street-running, climbing, and gymnastics.
Street-running is a great example of a sport that we have rarely seen in Olympics before. It combines different sporting styles such as climbing, speed-reading, rebounding, vaulting, and running/jumping. As mentioned above, all these different styles have their own advantages and disadvantages, which are what makes it a good combination. For instance, street-running exposes the athlete to many different sports, and as mentioned above, it also offers the advantage of being able to ‘feel’ the sport. For example, if you are a runner, you will also be familiar with the sensation of running down steep hills, uphill climbs, etc.
Climbing is an example of pure endurance-based sport. However, unlike running, climbing does not necessarily require jumping, which gives it a different feel altogether. In addition, climbing is extremely useful as a form of exercise, which can build strength and improve endurance for athletes, especially mountain climbers. Finally, because it is such a demanding sport, climbing is used in the Olympics.
Gymnastics is arguably the best known of the three sports that we have covered so far, although it is still debatable as to whether it is a sport or more of a recreation. It is used by both athletes and enthusiasts alike, because it is both a great form of physical activity and a good overall physical fitness routine. As such gymnastic medals at the Tokyo Olympics should go to the best gymnasts, as they prove that the sport of gymnastic can be both enjoyed and improved upon.