The competitive season is in full swing, and Sport Parkour League have just announced our final roster of prequalified athletes who will be heading to Vancouver for the main event later this Summer. We'll run you through the podium spots from the USPK National Championships to give you our final few prequalified competitors!
Taking first place in Men's skill is the reigning SPL skill champ, Brandon Hooper. After dethroning the near-unbeatable Tim Champion, stripping him of his four-year win streak last summer, Brandon Hooper is getting some final exposure to the format before returning to Vancouver to face off against Tim. Second place in Men's skill went to Ary Dulfer, who recently spent a year training in the north of England — likely because we have the best tech (two years of UK training may have been enough to secure first place). Third place in men's skill and our final prequalified skill athlete is Gavin White.
Continuing the trend of our reigning champions taking first place in qualifiers — our women's skill champ, Megan McQueen took first place in women's skill. Megan was followed closely by Louisa Chang in second, and Ann Hoang in third.
Brandon Hooper was on a generational tear, taking home first place in mens speed, securing himself a prequalified spot at SPL. Brandon was followed by Benati Louvouezo, who took second, and Elijah Vandervyver. Amy Baldwin took first place in women's speed, followed by our SPL skill champ, Megan McQueen in second, and Dara Depaolo in third.
Our men's style podium this year is full of some relative unknowns. First place went to Larry Vivar, second to Calum Chatwin, and third to JJ Jean. We're used to seeing the same big names in the US style parkour scene, so having some fresh athletes to watch this year is sure to be a breath of fresh air. Finally, our women's style podium includes June Porter, who took first; Dara DePaolo, who took second (and is qualified for both speed and style!); and Jayde Palomo who took third.
That wraps up the last of the prequalifiers for SPL! But if you're still keen to compete, they still have spaces for the on-site qualifiers on the day of the competition!
Best of luck to all of the athletes who secured podium spots as USPK Nationals this past weekend — and good luck to all of the athletes moving forward to SPL!
