In the women’s division, the most dominant and decorated SPL athlete of all time, Renae Dambly, made her return after a brief break. Renae dominated the skill competition and took first place — further cementing her spot as the most decorated competitive athlete in SPL history. Last year’s skill champ, Megan McQueen, took second, followed by Rachel Gough in third.
In the men’s division, last year’s shock upset — when Tim Champion was dethroned by Boston athlete Brandon Hooper — was run back a second time. Brandon once again dominated the skill challenges, taking home his second consecutive SPL Skill Champ title and pushing Tim into second place yet again. Third place was claimed by the Swedish wonderboy, Kevin Franzen (whose name you’ll see more than once in this wrap-up).
In women’s speed, Audrey Johnson took first with a commanding performance, using her relatively smaller size to traverse course gaps that shaved precious milliseconds off her time. Amy Baldwin followed in second, with Renae Dambly taking third — securing her second podium spot at the World Championships.
In men’s speed, first and second went to the flying Dutchmen, Siebe van de Spijker and Tangui van Schingen, respectively. Both seemed to vanish from the event immediately after finishing, leaving Brandon Hooper alone on the podium in third!
The women’s style division was incredibly tense. Audrey Johnson established herself as a double champ by taking first with dominant performances across all three rounds — capped off by a disgusting gargoyle gainer in the finals. Nath Vigneault secured second, while Miranda Tibbling — an SPL first-timer but parkour comp veteran — took third.
Finally, the men’s style division saw some jaw-dropping feats. Elis Torhall took first, dominating all three rounds. Kevin Franzen secured second with a masterful line and an insane 17.5-foot lache trapdoor in the big trick round. Third went to Shae Rudolph, who landed a kong gainer pre to rail. Yes, you read that right — a kong gainer pre to rail only got third place. That’s how stacked this year’s style comp was!
Another year has passed, and another competitive season has concluded. Familiar faces once again stood atop the podiums, but every season SPL continues to raise the bar for what’s possible in competitive parkour. The level gets higher year after year, and I, for one, am already stoked to see what next season brings.
