“We haven’t had any response yet, so I’m anticipating we won’t hear anything until after the IOC decision is made, if at all,” says Damien Puddle, Chief Executive Officer (NZL). “The IOC doesn’t like controversy,” Damien explains, “So if they did start having discussions with us, I imagine they would be asking us to collaborate with FIG in some way.”

This isn’t the first time that parkour’s Olympic inclusion has been denied. The IOC Executive Board rejected a similar proposal for the gymnastics inclusion of parkour in the Tokyo 2020 games back in 2017, and due to current IOC policy and the current quota of 10,500 competing athletes, it’s unlikely that the proposal will be accepted.

While we await a decision on parkour’s Paris 2024 inclusion status, Parkour Earth urges the community to continue supporting grassroots practices and communities. “Work towards developing a national body if none exist in your country, “Damien says, “Consider joining Parkour Earth and helping us to ensure an international body for parkour meets the needs of the community at large.” There may be other suggestions that Parkour Earth would advise, but those will ultimately depend on the IOC’s decision.