Ultimate Parkour Challenge

Ultimate Parkour Challenge
GenreReality
Sports
StarringAndy Bell
Travis Wong
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes12
Production
Production locationCalifornia
Camera setupmultiple
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkMTV
ReleaseOctober 22, 2009 (2009-10-22) –
June 11, 2010 (2010-06-11)

Ultimate Parkour Challenge is a miniseries 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.

Hosts

  • Andy Bell: A former "Nitro Circus" FMX (freestyle motocross) rider.
  • Travis Wong: A former nationally ranked "forms and weapons" martial arts competitor.

2009-2010 Competitors

Competitor Age Hometown Background Parkour Team Known For/Style Achievements
Pip Andersen 19 Taunton, England, UK Parkour trickster Urban Freeflow Despite 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 Arroyo 23 Tampa, Florida Freerunner *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 David 26 Las Vegas, Nevada Freerunner *Finalist, MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Underground YouTube sensation, *Most respected in the U.S. Parkour community
Ryan Doyle 25 Liverpool, England, UK Martial Artist Freerunner Explosive corkscrew flips, spins, and other acrobatic moves harvested from a background as a renowned martial arts champion. *1st Place, 2007 Redbull Art of Motion, the first ever international freerunning competition, *UK Martial Arts Tricking Champion for 4 years running, *Finalist, MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge, *Appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, *Appeared on Discovery Channel's Fight Science, *Appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as Ellen DeGeneres' stunt double
Daniel Ilabaca 22 Liverpool, 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 Jenkin 19 Blackburn, England, UK Freerunner Urban Freeflow Nickname 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) 		25 San Francisco, California Stuntman Team Tempest Nickname: "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 episodes of Japan's popular athletic TV series Ninja Warrior competition on G4.
Tim Shieff 21 Derby, England, UK Former professional breakdancer Urban 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 Turner 20 Santa Barbara, California Hollywood stuntman This 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 Vorslav 22 Daugavpils, 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 1 (2009)

Season Two (2010)

Ep. # Episode Title Challenge Location Winner Original Airdate
1.1"Queen Mary"Long Beach, CaliforniaBen JenkinMay 6, 2010 (2010-05-06)
1.2"Venice"Venice Beach, CaliforniaMike TurnerMay 13, 2010 (2010-05-13)
1.3"Melody Ranch"Hollywood, CaliforniaRyan DoyleMay 20, 2010 (2010-05-20)
1.4"Hollyridge Castle"Hollywood Hills, CaliforniaDaniel IlabacaMay 27, 2010 (2010-05-27)
1.5"Urban Jungle-Downtown Pershing Square"Los Angeles, CaliforniaPip AndersonJune 4, 2010 (2010-06-04)
1.6"Westfield Culver City Mall"Culver City, CaliforniaBen JenkinJune 11, 2010 (2010-06-11)

References

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