Freerunning was born in the late 1980s in the concrete jungles of suburban France
© AFP Ben Stansall LONDON (AFP) - Daredevils from 17 countries showed their breathtaking skills in an adrenaline-fuelled event at The Roundhouse in Camden, north London.
The title was won by Gabriel "Jaywalker" Nunez of the United States, who dazzled the judges -- his fellow competitors -- with his athletic skill, complexity and flow.
"I'm pretty blown away, I didn't really expect to be on top," the professional freerunner told AFP on the stage.
"It was a pretty amazing course. It's not so spread out so it made us all change our minds and be a little bit more technical," said the 25-year-old from Los Angeles, who appeared in the Adam Sandler film "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", which premiered in June.
"My biggest hope is that it just spreads the sport. The more people we get doing it, the better."
Born in the late 1980s in the concrete jungles of suburban France, where it is known as "parkour", freerunning combines efficiency of movement across the urban landscape with gymnastic agility and a dash of hip-hop.
The street sport has featured in television advertisements, music videos and films such as the 2006 James Bond movie "Casino Royale".
Freerunning combines efficiency of movement across the urban landscape with gymnastic agility
© AFP/DDP/File Michael KappelerThe world championships got off to a frightening start as the first freerunner, attempting a 12-foot (3.7 metre) drop to catch an eight-foot high wall, crash-landed on his chin and tumbled to the floor.
Jorge Manuel Nava Romero was carted off to hospital -- minus a tooth and some blood -- where the Mexican made a full recovery.
The three-hour contest was conducted in the atmosphere of a freestyle rap battle, with 2,000 roaring spectators packing out the 1840s arts venue.
The competitors hailed from Austria, the Bahamas, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.
Each had 90 seconds to impress to their own individually selected soundtrack, hurling themselves around the bars and blocks with grace, skill, agility and surprise.
Clad in t-shirts, jogging pants and trainers, they scaled walls in cat-like fashion and stunned the crowd with some mammoth leaps, twists and rolls, each routine performed in idiosyncratic style.
The freerunners were judged by their fellow competitors, who whooped and punched the air on seeing the most difficult manoeuvres.
They selected 10 from among themselves who went through to a second round, then five finalists who performed for a third and final time.
Britons Tim "Livewire" Shieff and Ben "Jenx" Jenkin finished second and third respectively, while compatriot Pip "Piptrix" Andersen and America's Billy "Skipper" Hughes were also finalists.
The street sport has featured in television advertisements, music videos and films
© AFP Ben StansallJenkin, the youngest competitor at 17, said Romero's shock fall heightened the nerves.
"It put me off so much," the youngster from Blackburn in northwest England told AFP.
"I think some people would have gone for some bigger moves but that just put them off because of the reality of it: you can hurt yourself."
He nonetheless won the award for the best or "sickest" trick by pulling off a double gainer: "a back flip but going forwards, twice", he explained.
"Anyone can do freerunning. I saw my friend doing it in the park and I asked if I could join him," he added.
The auditorium largely empty and his gravity-defying leaps behind him, "Jenx" was stopped by a beefy security guard as he was about to clear a one-metre high barrier.
"Go round -- if someone falls and hurts themselves...," the teenager was told, and he duly obliged.
©AFP