Take Flight

Click here to watch Thib in Brazil!

Thibault “Thib” Granier has officially become a sponsored pro athlete of Take Flight! Standing 6′ 2″ this 24 year old is taller than most Traceurs or freerunners. But don’t let his height fool you, he is just as quick and agile as any other athlete out there.

Known as ‘Thib’, his huge moves and smooth control make him stand out far more than a little height advantage. Thib started Parkour in 2004, so has been practicing Parkour for over 6 years now. Being from Paris, he doesn’t live far from the birth place of Parkour; Lisses, France. The opportunity came early in Thib’s career, to meet some great Traceurs like Seb Goudot and David Belle. He met David in 2006 and now considers himself one of David’s friends.

We should be so lucky, the early influence of these great Traceurs really shows in Thib’s form and passion for Parkour. It is great to have Thib join our Pro Street Team.

Take Flight is featuring the Red Bull Art of Motion competition on the TF facebook page. It was held this March and marked one of the latest in many freerunning competitions that are springing up all over the world. The first Red Bull Art of Motion was back in May of 2009, and it drew huge crowds and international competitors. The events have even drawn enough attention to warrant an article by Time Magazine. There was also the TV show Jump City Seattle featuring international pro freerunning. But these international professional level competitions are just the tip of the iceberg.

Around the same time as the most recent Art of Motion event, there was the Nivea fo Men Freerunning Championships in Thailand (seen here).

These pro events are greatly outnumbered by the small amateur events that don’t get any publicity. For every pro event there are dozens of lower level competitions, but just because the event is smaller doesn’t mean the tricks are. In May of 2011, there was a freerunning event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho held at a local gym. Some of the athletes were throwing big tricks, and it really showed how fast freerunning is growing. freerunning competitions have even found their way into backyards. We recently saw video of a competition that was set up as part of a birthday party! We’re not saying this is common be any means, but we are sure freerunning birthday parties will become more popular as time goes on.