Olympic Sport Suggestion: Parkour

that'd be great if it was a sport. running around and jumping over things doesn't really qualify. athletic? yes. sport? no.

After reading about the origins and philosophies of parkour, I would say a competitive version would be antithetical to the spirit of parkour.

Running and jumping over things sound a lot like track and field to me :)

It would be cool for sure, and it would make me actually care about watching the Olympics for more than a few minutes when I channel surf... But how do they standardize parkour across Olympic games? Set up the exact same cityscape course or playground deal every few years?

I do not like any of the olympic games that require an element of judging. This is the same reason I wasnt a big fan of adding some of the snowboarding/skiing events even though I love to watch them. I do like boarder/skier cross because theyre strait forward races. IMO they should get rid of events like figure skating, gymnastics, half pipe, free skiing, synchronized swimming, diving etc.

I love parkour and free running but do not want to watch them in the olympics.

I agree Alex. Put these guys in a track suit and see what they can do. :p

Please find a copy of "Banlieue 13" (2004) and its sequel "Banlieue 13 : Ultimatum" (2009) and you will see these incredible guys Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle - the one in this youtube clip - doing incredible things.

@Dan0

it's not that tough to make a sport out of it - an obstacle course with the fastest time winning - all avenues allowed and go ...

The parkour I've seen is mostly done with movie splicing. On another note, they should remove all the events that require subjective judging. If you can't measure it or time it, then it's bull.... politics.

Parkour in Olympics, but sport climbing not? http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/

And another thing. What's with swimmers getting 8 different medals for swimming 8 different ways? How about if I Hop, Skip, and Jump and then Jump, Skip, and Hop?

Isn't parkour what James Bond did when chasing that guy in Africa in "Casino Royale?" Or was it "Quantum of Solace?" In either case, it was a really cool scene.

Olympics are about ratings too. I can't imagine this will get the figure skating or michael phelps numbers that keep the sponsors coming. Maybe if it existed on TV and not the internet...

Agree with the judgiung thing. How about also ditching the team sports (yawn), and tennis?
Instead introduce combat and medieval sports, like kick boxing, mixed martial arts, cage fighting, sword fighting (not fencing) and even jousting.
And just for a laugh, a Trebuchet event.