20 ATHLETES PUSH THE LIMITS OF GRAVITY AT THE RED BULL ART OF MOTION IN KUWAIT

Kuwait will host the sixth and final stop of the 2011 Red Bull Art of Motion. The event will feature the top Free-runners and Parkour athletes from Kuwait and across the world. On Saturday November 12, a battle between the top local Free-runners and Parkour Athletes will take place in Kuwait to determine the top three local qualifiers who will join 17 other athletes from across the world.

On Wednesday November 16 and Thursday November 17, the top 20 athletes will turn the island of Failaka into a spectacular acrobatic Parkour and Free-running show when they compete in the Red Bull Art of Motion in Kuwait.

The two-day, free-running competition will challenge participants to navigate the natural obstacles of the historical island of Failaka – demonstrating a captivating blend of Free-running, Parkour, martial arts and gymnastics along the way. The traditional and historic buildings of Failaka will serve as the competition site for the athletes taking part.

The competition will push athletes to blend the physical discipline of overcoming obstacles by adapting movements to surroundings (parkour) with free-running, a form of urban acrobatics that challenges individuals to perform movements based on the island landscape. Each team will use Failaka’s street scenery as a creative playing field on which to showcase innovative athleticism.

In Free Running the object is to overcome the natural obstacles with utmost creativity, style, skill and a perfect fluidity. The athletes push the limits of gravity as they overcome the gorges between houses and other hurdles with an unbelievable aura of lightness.

Red Bull Art of Motion brings together the world’s best parkour athletes and free-runners on unique courses in epic locations across the globe. Art of Motion began in Vienna, Austria in 2007.

World-renowned free-running star and the victor in that first competition, Ryan Doyle, explains that each event is about the taking part more than the winning: “It’s more of an exhibition of different styles. It’s not 20 Free-runners competing against each other, its 20 Free-runners competing against the course every time – almost like 20 different tournaments.”

Previous Winners
2007 (Vienna, Austria): Ryan Doyle (UK)
2009 (Vienna, Austria): Jason Paul (Germany)
2009 (Helsingborg, Sweden): “Dido” Delyan Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
2010 (Vienna, Austria): Jason Paul (Germany)
2010 (Tampa, USA): Yohan Leroux (France)
2010 (Boston, USA): Jason Paul (Germany)
2011 (London, UK): Tim Shieff (UK)
2011 (Yokohama, Japan): Jason Paul (Germany)
2011 (Sao Paolo, Brazil): Ryan Doyle (UK)
2011 (Detroit, USA): Marcus Gustafsson (Sweden)
2011 (Santorini, Greece): Pavel Petkuns (Latvia)
2011 (Failaka, Kuwait): ?