New Parkour Federation Jumps Into Action

(ATR) The new parkour federation hopes to join the Olympic Movement and retain its heritage.

The parkour federation, known as "The Mouvement," was unveiled on Wednesday.

Mark Cooper, a facilitator for The Mouvement, told Around the Rings on Wednesday, "This organization is based around the guys who have been around since the beginning and have played a huge role in the development of parkour, freerunning, and displacement art."

"They have the vision to continue driving their practices forward into the future."

According to Cooper, the organization plans to seek SportAccord and IOC recognition "in a way that preserves the very special identity of the practice."

"Parkour and freerunning mean so much more to so many people than simply competition," Cooper said.

"This is a very important part of the identity the creators are very keen to maintain."

Earning IOC recognition is the first step toward becoming an Olympic sport. Should The Mouvement be recognized by the IOC, the sport is still several years away from attempting to gain access to the Olympic program.

In addition to IOC recognition, The Mouvement has several goals to work towards in the coming months.

"The first is to unite and reunite national associations around the world in order that we can help them and they can help each other," Cooper said.

The Movement also plans to prioritize projects that have used parkour and freerunning for social development.

"Those [projects] have taken place from Palestine and Gaza through to the Philippines," Cooper noted.

"We will than go out and design and implement projects and programs of our own."

Written by Andrew Murrell

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