Freerunning
How the format worked at Red Bull Art of Motion this year
Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 has a new venue and a ground-breaking multi-day format. This is everything you need to know about the radical reboot of the biggest comp in freerunning.
Part of this story
Red Bull Art of Motion has been pushing the boundaries of freerunning for more than a decade now. From the inaugural 2007 event in Vienna through to last year’s innovative competition on sailing boats, it has been right at the forefront of progression in the sport, delivering iconic locations and moments at each event. However, for this year’s edition of the world’s longest-running freerunning competition, it was time to take things to a whole new level again.
For Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 we’re re-imagining freerunning contests with a brand new multi-day, collaborative competition format based on three different challenges that will put athletes' skills to the test like never before. And to host this radical new event format we’re taking over a whole island for the 16 finalists to showcase their skills on.
This is going to be an absolutely historic event for freerunning, so read on the find out exactly what to expect from the ground-breaking Red Bull Art of Motion 2022.
01
Where and when is Red Bull Art of Motion 2022?
This year, Red Bull Art of Motion is returning to its spiritual home, Greece, and from June 9–12 the event will take over the entire island of Astypalea in the Dodecanese chain.
The picturesque island is a real find. Its Venetian castle, narrow historic streets, flat rooftops, balconies and waterfront windmills will give the athletes new opportunities to showcase moves and amaze the audience as they roam all over in search of the best spots.
See more of Red Bull Art of Motion's new venue, Astypalea, in the gallery below:
Welcome to Red Bull Art of Motion's new home, Astypalea
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
Astypalea is the biggest Red Bull Art of Motion venue to date
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
Finalists are going to be spoiled for choice for lines and obsatcles
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
The historic maze of streets are truly a next level freerunning paradise
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
More Red Bull Art of Motion news
02
What's the new contest format?
Qualifiers and finals are no more. For the first time, participants will face a multi-part competition with three different challenges that’ll put all of their skills to the test during a collaborative three-day event.
Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 will consist of three challenges and the top five athletes in each challenge will receive points towards their total score. The athlete with the highest points total at the end of the three challenges will be crowned champion.
Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 challenges are: Exploration Challenge, Spot Challenge and Live Challenge. Find out more about them below:
Exploration Challenge
Astypalea is an island covered with amazing freerunning spots waiting to be discovered. So, to kick things off all athletes will get one day to uncover the location best suited to their skillset and film a clip that impresses the judges the most. Whoever makes the most of this dream location by the end of the day will take home the points for the exploration challenge.
Here's how it works: athletes will have one day to submit three clips, but only the best clip will be judged, and all content will be shot, edited and submitted by the athletes themselves, working with each other to capture their best clips.. The top five will receive points towards the overall total and athletes will also select one of their videos each to enter for the People's Choice Award that you can vote for at redbullartofmotion.com.
Finalists will have the whole island to explore for three days
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
Spot Challenge
The clue's in the name for day two's challenge. All the finalists will converge on the biggest track this competition has ever had and be tasked with filming their very best action clip.
Athletes will all throw down at a predetermined location and will have just three hours to produce a 45-60 second action clip in collaboration with a videographer. The judges will then determine the top five athletes from the spot challenge based on the standard judging criteria of Creativity, Difficulty, Execution, Flow and Overall, for the creative value of the video itself.
Live Challenge
After a well-earned rest day, the final day's challenge is a "combo-style" competition, where all finalists will throw down short but powerful combos or massive single moves with a maximum time limit of 10 seconds. They'll compete in heats of four and each athlete will get three attempts to achieve the best possible score. Scoring will be on a scale of 0.00 - 10.00 and the average of the scores will be the total score of the run.
In the case of a tie for the overall event, the live challenge scores will be used as a tie breaker.
This format will enable judges and fans alike to see athletes perform more difficult tricks than in past events and fans will also get the chance to see the struggle of the athletes sticking their hardest moves as it's all going to be going out live on the @redbullfreerunning TikTok.
03
How can an athlete win?
All three challenges are weighted equally and only the top five athletes in each challenge will receive points from the judges. Points will be awarded as follows in each challenge:
- 1st = 7 points
- 2nd = 5 points
- 3rd = 3 points
- 4th = 2 points
- 5th = 1 point
At the end of the three days of competition, the points will be added up and the athlete with the highest score will be crowned the Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 champion. A Best Female award is also up for grabs.
Judging this year's historic event will be an all-star lineup of freerunning legends: Head Judge Kie Willis, three-time Red Bull Art of Motion Best Female award winner Luci Romberg, the one and only Jason Paul, Sergio Cora Campos, Luis Alkmim and Alex Schauer.
The historic maze of streets are truly a next level freerunning paradise
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
04
Who's competing in the Red Bull Art of Motion finals?
There will be 16 of the world's best freerunners competing at Red Bull Art of Motion 2022, some returning favourites from contests past and some new faces sure to shake things up.
Get to know the Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 finalists here.
05
How can I watch Red Bull Art of Motion 2022?
Missed the action? Catch up on everything that went down in 2022 by watching the video below.
23 min
Freerunners took over an island in Greece
Jason Paul takes us through Red Bull Art of Motion 2022 for an insider’s look at all the action.
Want more? For a full recap, click here
Part of this story