New York, NY- International Parkour Federation (IPF), the world’s competent authority and most widely recognized federation for the sport of Parkour welcomes the IOC’s decision this week to deny FIG’s proposal to include Parkour on their slate of events for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. “We’re very pleased,” said Victor Bevine, President of IPF. “Parkour is a unique and dynamic sport, and should not simply be plugged into the gymnastics culture and infrastructure. This is the time for independent development, which IPF is supporting in 50+ countries on five continents. Olympic inclusion is a great goal for Parkour, but there’s no rush.” Only Breaking (breakdancing) was added for 2024, with skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing making their debut in Tokyo in 2021. The IOC denied all other proposed additions. Changes within a sport were allowed only at the expense of cutting existing events, with the 2024 athlete quota slashed by 600 athletes from the 2021 total. “We were confident the IOC would do the right thing,” added David Thompson, IPF Secretary General. “And, frankly, it’s hard to believe that national gymnastics federations would have willingly given up precious athlete slots to make way for Parkour.”

The Mission of IPF is to promote the practice of Parkour and related disciplines through community building, world wide and local competitive and non-competitive events, charitable initiatives for under-served parkour communities, and the creation of affiliated Parkour National Governing Bodies in countries around the world.