Red Bull Art of Motion
The Red Bull Art of Motion is a competition that gathers together the best of the best urban acrobats, from all over the world, in a show-off of their unique skills to come up with the ultimate best. The first ever Red Bull Art of Motion tournament took place in Vienna, Austria, in October 2007 and since then it has become one of the most expected events amongst not only the extreme athletes communities, but of the locals who gather to watch the fearless athletes live.
Marcus Zyrken Gustafsson, second place in the Red Bull Art of Motion 2012 – Photocredit: Predrag Vuckovic, Red Bull Content Pool
The event takes place in many countries around the world and it incorporates parcour’s efficient movements in combination with the aesthetically beautiful and impressive moves seen in gymnastics, all performed using the natural landscape and environment around. A wide variety of already known and named movements exists for the athletes to use in their performances, but the real art of free running is all in the imagination of the athletes. The purpose is to create new revolutionary yet exquisite movements that push the boundaries of the sport to new seemingly impossible limits. New styles and movements combined with extensions of already known movements is among the things the fans are expecting to see in the Red Bull Art of Motion competition. The athletes are judged by a judging committee in 5 categories: technique, execution, fluidity, creativity and style. Ranking is determined by the judges’ average votes.
For a fourth consecutive year (fifth since 2011), the Red Bull Art of Motion takes place in the idyllic Cycladic island of Santorini. The island with the globally admitted best sunset in the world, will welcome the lionhearted athletes on Saturday 3 of October. Brant new challenges await the athletes as this year the event is being relocated from its established location at Caldera to literally one back-flip from the aforementioned quaint sunset, in Oia.
New tricks, stunts and amazing performances await for the lucky ones to witness the event in person. View of Santorini – Photo Credits: Samo Vidiv / Red Bull Content Pool
The top six finalists from 2014 are automatically qualified for this year’s event, whereas seven more (four male and three female) secured their spots through online qualifications. Another five athletes had their chance to securing a spot through the on-site qualifier which took place on October 1st.
Last year’s winner, Dimitris Kirsanidis from Greece, is returning to defend his title, next to Pavel Petkuns (LAT), Alexander Baiturin (RUS), Yoann Leroux (FRA), Jesse Peveril (CAN) and Alexander Schauer (AUT), all pre-qualified from their last year’s ranking.
The seven freerunners who secured their place in the competition, out of 120 participants, through the online qualifier are Pedro Phosky, Didi Alaoui, Dante Graziolli and Alfred Scott and three women: Luci Romberg, Pamela Foster and Lynn Jung.
Achraf Dibani, Robert Reese, Jason Paul, Johan Stahle, Dominic Di Tomasso and Erik Mukhametshyn are the remaining five athletes who secured their spots yesterday through the on-site qualifier. The biggest on-site qualifier in the history of Red Bull Art of Motion yet!
Reigning champion Dimitris Kirsanidis of Greece. Red Bull Art of Motion 2014 – www.redbull.com
Will local hero Dimitris Kirsanidis manage to keep the title to Greece or will a new free running champion be named? One thing is sure: Saturday 03 of October in Santorini will be HUGE!