Red Bull Art of Motion went down in Astypalea, Greece, and here’s everything that happened at the biggest comp in freerunning.

Protothema was at the event and watched the athletes, the excellent competition, and the fans that flooded the island to see who would e crowned the best free runner for this year.

The event turned into a celebration for the whole island with the spontaneous participation of visitors who enjoyed the passion of young athletes. The youngsters of the island hurried to ask for autographs but also to be photographed with the athletes and especially the Greek free runner Dimitris DK Kyrsanidis, who is very dear to the youth.

The new location offered a fresh take on the tracks from past years with more roof gaps, bigger elevation changes, and an endless variety.
For the Explorative Challenge, the athletes not only had one location but access to the entire island.

The new event format took place over three different challenges: Explorative Challenge, Spot Challenge, and, finally, the Live Challenge. Scores were cumulative from the whole week. The first day kicked off with the Exploration Challenge, which gave athletes a chance to work with one another as they explored the entire island.

The competition took place from 9 to 12 June and was attended by the 16 best freerunning athletes in the world. Their “track” is the whole island. The roofs of the newly whitewashed houses, the windmills over the port, and even the beautiful castle were “left” to the figures and the daring tricks of the athletes.

The location for the Spot Challenge was chosen for the variety of setups available in close proximity. Variable-sized roof gaps, waterfall-style ledges, and angled descents were all part of the unique architecture of the location. To up the game even further, a few choice additions were made to the existing structures to create opportunities for never-before-possible moments like the roof gap bar setup and massive slant wall.