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I posted this in the forums, but I felt like more people should see how positive a competition could be in freerunning. This is an article on my experiences this week while in London at the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships. I just want to emphasize that I had an amazing time, I made 22 new best friends, and couldn't be happier with how well everything came together for the athletes, stage crew and everyone who had a hand in it. Read more for the Article!
This entire week was amazing, It started with everyone arriving at a hostel to bunk in rooms of 8, pretty much FORCING us to be best friends  And it worked, all 23 of us got to be pretty damn close in just 2 days time. Accents and beliefs aside, we were all there for 2 things, to have more fun than we have ever had, and to compete WITH eachother in what turned out to be one of the most exciting experiences of my life. Again, I say 'compete WITH eachother' because not one person felt any sort of rivalry or ill feelings towards another person's skill, performance or placement. The entire event was judged by the athletes, and this is probably one of the only sports/arts that this type of judgment would fly so smoothly. When people did moves that seemed impossible, the reaction was "OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT, THAT WAS SIIIICCCKKKK, NOW I HAVE TO STEP IT UP!!!!!" Seriously, we were going absolutely crazy for eachother every time something huge went down.
Im sure I can speak for most of the athletes there when I say that our nerves were higher than ever, but ones that whistle blew, you forgot about cameras, about the crowd, about our peers judging us... once we took that first step off the platform, our ears were filled with the same white noise you get when you go out for a run, focusing on the obstacles and your own movement. Not once did I think in my runs that I needed to beat that guy, or do this trick better than that other dude's trick. I (we) just went out there and did what we love for the sake of ourselves.
I can remember a few specific moments when I saw a freerunner do a move that another guy was planning on doing (I took a lot of mental notes during our short practice )... After they did the move or combo of moves, I would be beside myself because for the most part, these were some amazing moves. I'd be jumping up and down, screaming and cheering, going absolutely CRAZY for this person, but I would start looking around for the person that had been practicing this move earlier, and had full intentions of performing it thinking he must be pretty upset or pressured, but no, they were going just as crazy as me, if not more. That was the mood of the night, not sponsors, not banks, not shoes, not TV, but full on craziness and brotherly love.
As for me, I went into this with high hopes of having fun, but much lower hopes of making the first cut. I mean, top ten?? I planned one run, and one run only, and pulled it off like it was my last (apparently, I cant remember shit after I started my run. Its all a blur). Once all competitors were done, the votes were counted, we all got up on stage, each person with their arm around the next, and went crazy as our new friends got their names called. I will never forget any of this, I know that I was the 6th person called for the semi-finals, and I couldnt believe my ears. The overwhelming nerves I had in the first round, turned to excitement and happiness from there on out. Of course, once I stopped and realized I only planned one run, I got a bit of those nerves right back, lol. I was the first to go in the second group (2 groups of 5), and I had to figure out a game plan that was different than the first. With no time to do this, I pretty much just winged it, yet I felt much more confident about that run than before, because it was my own raw style that came out, rather than a planned combination of moves. When it was done, I was happy... ecstatic even, just for being there and doing it. I came off the stage feeling proud of the last run I will ever get to do there. I sat down, looking forward to seeing the sick stuff that those top 5 guys will pull off, again, thinking I had an ice cube's chance in hell that I would be one of those top 5. After a few minutes of waiting, I started hearing my friends call my name. "skipper! skipper! Get up, you made it!" ........ WAT? Crap, that means I have to come up with another run?!?! I got all tingly inside and waited with the Gabe, Jenx, Tim and Pip at the stage stairs, with about a billion thoughts going through my head. When it was time for our runs, all 5 of us climbed to the top, we huddled together and gave eachother the best of luck, said to play it safe, and have some fun. I used some similar techs in this run that I used in other runs, but I tried to just keep going. When I couldn't breathe anymore, I would run faster, when I couldnt jump anymore, I would jump harder, and when I couldnt produce saliva any more..... I pretty much just held my breath till the end because I knew there was a stage hand there waiting to hand me a bottle of water. Amazing.... just amazing experience.
With an exception of one rather large bail (props to sarge from Monos Urbanos, one tough-ass cookie I must say), it went without a hitch. Everyone did their runs, everyone was united as one big family, and all that was left to do was have some fun while 2000 people watched.... and we did!
I'll also give HUGE props to the whole UF crew. Kerbie and Jonzi-D did a wicked job of MC'ing the event, and it would have been boring without them pumping everyone up. Blue spent the entire time snapping photos court-side for great overall coverage of the event. Bam was on the camera taking footage of not just the event, but the attitudes of the athletes that probably wont show up on mainstream TV. Sticky was up doing commentary for Sky the entire time, and it sounded like he did a hell of a job keeping up with us. Cali, What can I say, you're probably the most humble guy i've met, and I look forward to seeing you in the future, but most of all, you're one hell of a dancer, haha  Asid, Always a pleasure talking to you. I think every time you've said something to me, it has come off as incredibly wise and eye-opening. Tim and Pip, what can I say, Freakin hell of a performance guys. Pip's whole last run was on a sprained ankle, and I dont think Ive seen freak strength like Tim's .... Everyone had a huge hand in making this a success, but nothing but love to EZ for heading this whole thing up. I couldnt imagine the amount of work that went into this, but I hope you felt like it was easily paid off by the caliber of the event itself. HUGE props 
I hope this goes to show that despite what people think about competitions, its still possible to have a group of guys give nothing but love for competitors, rather than rivalry. And if I were to pick one sport, art, or discipline that could pull it off in such a classy and friendly manner, I couldnt see anything working as well as freerunning. |
