The UK has made history at the first Parkour Earth World Championships, finishing as the competition’s most decorated nation after winning podium places across Skill, Speed and Style.
Held in Brno, Czech Republic, from 28th October to 1st November, the championships brought together athletes from the UK, Canada, the USA, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and more to compete in the three disciplines. The GB team delivered a series of standout performances, earning medals in each category.
Skill:
Rachel Gough - 2nd Place Women's Skill
Ed Scott - 1st Place Men's Skill
Speed:
Ed Scott - 1st Place Men's Speed
Style:
Ed Scott - 3rd Place Men's Style
The championships were the next step on a journey that began at the British Parkour Championships this summer. This event, run and organised by Parkour UK in collaboration with the Street Monkeys Academy in Preston, gave athletes the opportunity to qualify for the international competition and represent Great Britain on the world stage.
The team was supported throughout the event by a wider coaching group. Tom Redfern (Manchester, Project Z Academy) led the team. His leadership, attention to detail, and priority on athlete well-being and care really helped our performance take it that one step further.
We were also joined by Sean Newsham (Preston, Street Monkeys Academy) coming in as the style coach for the style category. Although it was announced that Sean would be our style coach, Sean stepped up to support the entire team across all three disciplines across the weekend. Their work helped athletes prepare for each round and supported the team between performances.
Our athlete Deni Stoynev made his way into the semi-finals in men's speed, but unfortunately didn't qualify into the finals. This gave him the opportunity to step up in an additional coaching support role, helping our the other coaches and athletes with additional tasks to spread the responsibility and focus.
We were also joined by Tom Taylor, who self-funded his own flights out to the event to support and coach Ed Scott, our podium winning athlete in all three disciplines. Tom's work was crucial to the UK's success in the competition, and it was amazing to see him get involved to support our athletes and coaching team. His voluntary work was a huge asset to the whole competition, and we are incredibly thankful for his dedication and support.
The support of these coaches allowed a number of our athletes qualify for the finals across all three categories.
Megan Powell (Manchester) and Rachel Gough (Northampton, residing in Belgium) both qualified for the Women's Skill finals. Megan placed 3rd in the Skill Semi-Finals, and Rachel placed 2nd in the Skill Semi-Finals. Megan also made it as the top competitor in the Women's Speed finals, dominating all of her semi-final runs. Her performance in the Women's Speed finals were off to a quick start, topping the table after her first run. Unfortunately, in the final run of the competition Megan slipped out on a rail, but her earlier performances still placed her 5th overall.
In Men's Skill, all three of our male athletes made their way into the finals. With three coaches on hand to support, each athlete had a dedicated coach supporting them through the semi-finals.
Harrison Fernandez (Cambridge) was supported by Sean Newsham in the semi-finals. The live scoring seriously bought some heat and tension to the competition. Harrison was sitting at 18th, before a quick decision from coach Sean allowed Harrison to tick one final challenge off just before the time ran out. This allowed Harrison to move up to 10th place, and qualify into the finals.
Ben Sutton (Peterborough) was supported in the semi-finals by lead coach Tom. After a slightly slow start, Tom identified the challenges that worked for Ben's height, build, and power, and supported him to get those challenges ticked off to gain some points.
Ed Scott was accompanied by his personal coach, Tom Taylor. The two went around the course with Tom on surface wiping, chalking, and crowd control duties to give Ed enough space to move at his own pace. This helped Ed dominate the Men's Skill semis, and into the finals.
In style, young gun Liam Park (Preston) was one of the youngest athletes in the squad, and was supported throughout the whole competition by Sean, who has been his coach for a number of years. Being young and at the start of his competitive journey, Liam worked closely with Sean who made him feel comfortable, calm, collected, and supported throughout the whole competition. Liam ended up placing 6th in the Men's style finals, an incredible achievement for someone of his age!
The team also faced challenges in Brno, with George Prior (Plymouth) sustaining an ankle injury in the style preparations within the first day of the event. Elise Bickley (Rotherham) also had to pull out of women's style due to a concussion. Another qualified athlete, Mia Albel (Bristol) had to step away from the competition due to knee surgery after the British Parkour Championships. We wish them a smooth recovery and thank them for being part of the team’s journey, and the continued support they gave in the lead up to and the weekend of the competition.
The UK also had a huge crowd of spectators, with Aspire Parkour Academy, Nova City, Plymouth Parkour, and friends & family members coming in numbers to scream, shout, and support the team through the international competition.
Parkour UK congratulates every athlete who represented Great Britain, as well as the coaches and supporters who helped the team throughout the championships. Winning medals in all three disciplines and finishing as the most decorated nation marks an impressive achievement for the UK, and we can't wait for the next event.
