FIG Says Indonesia Has The Potential To Be The Leadest In Parkur

JAKARTA - President of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) Morinari Watanabe said Indonesia has the potential to be at the forefront of parkur sports in Southeast Asia and even the world.

Indonesia is the first country to open the 2023 Brick Parkour Asian Tour series which is planned to be held in five countries. After Indonesia, the Parkour Asian Tour will visit Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines

"The future parkur ecosystem can be an Olympic discipline. You know now starting in the right place (Indonesia). About opportunities for a country that will be at the forefront of parkur, Indonesia has that opportunity," Morinari said on the first day of Brick Parkour Asian Tour 2023, Saturday (12/8), quoted by Antara.

The same thing was said by international parkur athlete Javier Rodriguez Alvarez from Mexico who became one of four international athletes withwa Cordt Moeller (Switzerland), Audrey Johnson (United States), and Stephanie (Australia) who attended the 2023 Brick Parkour Asian Tour Indonesian series.

Javier, who directly introduced parkur sports to participants at a workshop session on the sidelines of the race competition number speed on Saturday (12/8), saw firsthand that Indonesia has potential in the field of sports originating from France.

I totally agree with her (Morinari Watanabe) because Indonesia is a big country. In this city there will be a man who has good potential to be shown to more people so you can be a part of this. So what Mister Watanabe said 'there is good potential' means there is potential, today we see it, "said Javier.

One of the advantages that Indonesia has to further develop parkur, said Javier, is that there are no significant obstacles about the season. Unlike the current residence in Spain, which has four seasons, namely spring, summer, fall, and cold.

Indonesia, which is a tropical country, only has two seasons, namely the rainy and dry season. According to Javier, this condition is very good because it makes it easier for athletes to train to continue to be better.

"So I see that Indonesians don't have a big problem with the weather because sometimes, for example, in Europe, it always rains in the north, so people from here should be happy just hot and not raining, it snows because sometimes it is difficult and there are too many exercises," said Javier.

Javier also admitted that he was quite impressed with the implementation of the 2023 Indonesian Brick Parkour Asian Tour on the first day because all participants had fun and did not care too much about who won and who lost.

However, because parkur di Tanah Air sedang memasuki babak baru, ia merasa tidak perlu terlalu mempertasalah hal tersebut dan justru menyatakan hal ini merupakan awal yang bagus untuk memperkenalkan olahraga parkur sebagai olahraga yang menyenangkan.

"I saw today, I don't think they (participants) care about competition because I see it's like if they lose they hug each other. At this point is the first time this year, they still don't realize that when someone is serious that person will win," said the man who lives in Spain.

"Now it's fine because this is a new sport in Indonesia, I mean it's not a new sport but this new thing is being fixed here," he added.

Regarding the development of parkur sports in the country, parkur is a sport that has grown quite well with many communities in various cities.

However, this sport does not have official competitions and only focuses on jamming sessions, internal competitions, and competitions between communities.

The Brick Parkour Asian Tour 2023 Indonesia event is the first official competition for parkur in the country by competing in three numbers, namely skill, speed, and freestyle.

This competition was held as an event to introduce the world of parkur more widely in Indonesia which will be accommodated by PB Persani.

"Indonesian parkour society is very large, many in Indonesia and has developed. They don't have competition but like jamming sessions, gathering, and carrying out their own exhibitions," said Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indonesian Gymnastics Association (PB Persani) Ita Yuliati.

"To hold a competition, it must be under the FIG and Persani, so we make regulations to be followed so that everything is safer. We only accommodate athletes who want to continue to excel later," he added.