RED BULL ART OF MOTION LAYS ITS TRACKS INTO MOTOWN
Innovative Global Competition Rooted in Martial Arts and
Gymnastics Scheduled to Take Over Detroit
On Friday, August 26 and Saturday, August 27, athletes from across the world will take to the streets of Detroit to compete in Red Bull Art of Motion. The two-day, free-running competition will challenge participants to navigate the urban obstacles of two of Detroit’s most notorious landmarks – the Russell Industrial Center and Hart Plaza – demonstrating a captivating blend of free-running, parkour, martial arts and gymnastics along the way.
The competition will push athletes to blend the physical discipline of overcoming obstacles by adapting movements to surroundings (parkour) with free-running, a form of urban acrobatics that challenges individuals to perform movements based on city landscape. Each participant will use Detroit’s unmatched street scenery – from art to architecture – as a creative playing field on which to showcase innovative athleticism.
The first round of the competition will take place at the Russell Industrial Center on Friday, August 26. Doors will open at 4 PM and the event itself will begin at 5 PM. Twenty competitors will each be given 90 seconds to charge the art-strewn industrial playground head-on, projecting their speed, strength and ingenuity across a course of existing and added obstacles. Judges will score the athletes in categories including creativity, execution, flow and difficulty. Each of the twenty competitors will be judged by the same criteria on the second day of the competition, on Saturday, August 27, at Hart Plaza.
Saturday doors will open at 4 PM, and the final event will begin at 5 PM. Contestants will be challenged to lay their tracks on the concrete of the storied plaza, maneuvering between its illustrious sculptures and amphitheaters in hopes of victory. Scores from Friday and Saturday’s competitions will each account for 50 percent of each competitor’s total score. One athlete will be crowned champion of the 2011 United States Red Bull Art of Motion competition, in the shadow of the iconic Renaissance Center on the shores of the Detroit River. Both events are free and open to spectators.
PARKOUR DE JOUR
Red Bull Art of Motion was established as the world’s first free-running competition in 2007.
Events take place all over the world, with each competition including its own unique spin on the integration of natural terrain ranging from staircases to the sides of buildings. Other 2011 competition cities include Japan, England, Brazil and Greece and Kuwait.
Red Bull Art of Motion is a free event and open to the public. For more information log onto www.redbullusa.com/artofmotiontampa or www.redbullusa.com/artofmotionboston. For media related questions, please contact jamie.hannah@us.redbull.com or (773) 580-7472
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