Dylan Bettencourt
Parkour is not your typical sports event and while it may not seem like a traditional sport, it’s immensely popular and takes a leap of faith to be the best.
Ukraine claimed that honour, winning the gold medal in the parkour event at the World Games as Bohdan Kolmakov came first in the speed competition.
The World Games is an event dedicated to all the sports that are not in the Olympics, such as parkour, ten-pin bowling and drone racing.
Following the Olympic pattern, the World Games takes place every four years – typically in the year after the summer games.
Around 25 to 30 sports are played at the event with close to 3,500 athletes taking part from 100 different nations.
One of those is South Africa, who so far have only won a grand total of one bronze medal at all of the World Games they have taken part in.
Monday saw South Africans Chris Teague, Bridgitte Hartley and Andy Birkett all compete.
Teague, who competes in the parachuting canopy event, finished 16th with a total score of 160.
In the canoe marathon events, Hartley and Birkett qualified for the finals of the event making the cut during the heats.
South Africa also took part in the ten-pin bowling event where the pairing of Ursula Ekermans and Gitabalie Soorajlal could not come away with a medal.
Mzansi isn’t alone; no other African country has ever claimed a gold medal at the games either.
At this year’s event held in Birmingham, Alabama in the USA, Germany lead the way with 15 gold medals.
While it may not be the most coveted event in sports, it offers a platform to those who have a talent to showcase their ability in a sport some people never knew existed.
Image source: @SportsUnfold
