Parkour Group Asks IOC to Reject Sport from Inclusion for 2024 Olympics

Parkour Earth wrote a letter to the International Olympic Committee asking the governing body to reject any proposal by the International Gymnastics Federation to include the sport in the 2024 Summer Games.

In a statement posted on their website Tuesday, Parkour Earth noted that they received information the FIG may be crafting a proposal to include parkour under its gymnastics umbrella for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, an effort the group feels may threaten the sport's sovereignty:

"As you know, parkour has been recognized as a sovereign, distinct and independent sport in its own right, and as such cannot be considered a discipline of, or subsidiary to, gymnastics or any other sport. Therefore, our sport must and should be established by the international Parkour/Freerunning/Art Du Deplacement community, via a process of federating our NGB's/National Federations—as per established and recognized international norms, on the established right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, we, not FIG, as an international community freely determine our sporting, social and cultural development."

Parkour Earth also requested a response from the IOC about whether the FIG had a similar proposal for the 2020 Summer Olympics rejected in 2017.

"It would be helpful if the IOC could clarify if this was the case and the status of any subsequent proposals by the FIG since that time," the statement read. "Additionally, if the IOC can provide the detail on the official procedure for the proposal of new sports into the Olympic program, particularly where it pertains to due diligence regarding contested sports."

In December 2018, Parkour Earth chief executive Eugene Minogue lamented the effort by the gymnastics governing body to take over power of the sport.

"This is the equivalent of a hostile takeover," Minogue told John Leicester of the Associated Press. "They are completely whitewashing our sport, its integrity, its history, its lineage, its authenticity."

He added: "They want to codify it, they want to monetize it. It's about money, about influence, about power, about control. It's about having a seat at the table."

Federation de Parkour president Sacha Lemaire echoed the financial-based concerns, telling Leicester that bringing money, attention and sponsorship opportunities into the equation via Olympics inclusion could have dire consequences in a free-flowing sport with ample risk.

"The one thing I hope is that gymnastics does not condone risk-taking and that it doesn't glorify an elite. Because we've been fighting for 20 years against young people chasing clicks, filming themselves doing acrobatics and taking risks with the aim of becoming famous and finding a sponsor," Lemaire said. "We're afraid that glorifying competition will feed this phenomenon and that we'll bear the brunt for that."

To avoid that, Parkour Earth is asking the IOC to join the sport's community in confirming it can't be overtaken by FIG or any other sporting organization and then work with its existing powerbrokers to obtain the "requirements and regulations" necessary to get on the Olympic program without outside influence.

"We feel this approach not only has the best chance of getting 'buy-in' from the core culture of our sport and community and thus longer-term sustainability of our sport and community within the Olympic Games, but importantly is consistent with the established and ethical principle of solidarity," the statement read.

The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Games are now slated to begin in July 2021.