Ultimate Parkour Challenge Explained

Genre:Reality, Sports
Camera:multiple
Runtime:30 minutes
Starring:Andy Bell
Travis Wong
Country:United States
Location:California
Language:English
Network:MTV
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:12

Ultimate Parkour Challenge is a mini-series that premiered on October 22, 2009 on MTV featuring the six of the top parkour and freerunning competitors from around the world expressing their styles against each other in a series of themed challenges filmed in California.[1] It was originally aired as a special, but a full miniseries aired in May 2010.[2] The series is hosted by freestyle motocross and parkour enthusiast Andy Bell, and stylish freerunner/martial artist Travis Wong. The first season's episodes aired on Thursdays at 10 pm EST on MTV with repeats airing on MTV2. While the second season's time slot moved to 11 pm EST.

Hosts

A former "Nitro Circus" FMX (freestyle motocross) rider.

2009-2010 Competitors

CompetitorAgeHometownBackground Parkour TeamKnown For/StyleAchievements
Pip Andersen19Taunton, England, UK Parkour tricksterUrban FreeflowDespite being one of the most skilled and strongest Parkour athletes in the world, he is known best for his sense of humor and clownish antics
  • One of 8 featured Athletes in MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Finalist in 2008 World Barclaycard Championships, *4th Place, 2007 World Freerunning Championships, *Appeared in a commercial for Swatch watches, Models for clothing and apparel companies
Daniel Arroyo23Freerunner
  • One of 8 featured Athletes in MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Achieved YouTube fame as the inventor of the "Cast Bomb", a very high-risk move
King David26Freerunner
  • Finalist, MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Underground YouTube sensation, *Most respected in the U.S. Parkour community
Ryan Doyle25Liverpool, England, UK Martial ArtistFreerunnerExplosive corkscrew flips, spins, and other acrobatic moves harvested from a background as a renowned martial arts champion.
Daniel Ilabaca22Liverpool, England, UK Freerunner
  • 1st Place in MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Raced against a Ferrari on German TV and won, *Appeared in numerous commercials for Toyota, Mercedes, & KSwiss, *One of the most watched freerunners, over 30 million YouTube views to his credit
Ben Jenkin19Blackburn, England, UK FreerunnerUrban FreeflowNickname is "Jenx", a shortened version of his last name. Considered a protégé of fellow freerunner Daniel Ilabaca. Universally considered one of the next Parkour superstars.
  • 3rd Place, 2008 Barclaycard World Freerunning Championships, *Taught a Parkour workshop at Camp Woodward in summer 2009.
Brian Orosco
(only in 2009 competition)
25StuntmanTeam TempestNickname: "Nosole". His "superman flips" while freerunning a course. Featured as one of 8 featured Athletes of the 2009 premiere season of MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge. *Competed on several of Japan's popular athletic TV series Ninja Warrior competition on G4.
Tim Shieff21Derby, England, UK Former professional breakdancerUrban Freeflow
  • 1st Place, 2009 Barclaycard World Freerun Championships, *Finalist, MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *2nd Place, 2008 World Freerunning Championships, *2nd Place, 2009 Red Bull Art of Motion Championships, *Appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, *Featured in the NY Daily News, *Collected over 3.5 million YouTube views in the last six months
Mike Turner20Hollywood stuntmanThis all-American, 6'2" former soccer player is famous for his incredible "ups", high jumps, athleticism, and fantastic dexterity.
  • One of 8 featured athletes in MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Master Instructor of the WFPF/Equinox Fitness Parkour Program, *Appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Oleg Vorslav22Daugavpils, Latvia Internet sensation
  • Featured dancer and stuntman in Madonna's "Jump" music video, *Also performed with the pop superstar on her globetrotting world tour, *Most viewed parkour video "ever"—his "Russian Climber" had collected over 50 million views

Episodes

Season Two (2010)

Ep. #Episode Title Challenge LocationWinnerOriginal Airdate

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ultimate Parkour Challenge TV Review | Common Sense Media .
  2. Web site: Will parkour, the acrobatic street sport, become a pop culture hit like skateboarding? . 24 June 2010 .