OVER 70 parkour runners competed at the Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie, central China’s Hunan Province, over the weekend. Competitors had to descend a 999-step mountain trail, navigating 108 obstacles including high platforms, slides and horizontal bar. The course is nearly 300 meters long, with a vertical drop of 150 meters, and has been hailed as the world’s most challenging parkour course. Following the preliminary rounds on Saturday, 38 athletes advanced to the finals on Sunday. This year’s competition retained skills and speed events, while also introducing new features such as a fun capture contest and an individual challenge event. In the skills competition, Argentina’s Lautaro Chialvo claimed top spot with a highly creative and challenging routine. In the speed competition, China’s Li Yiqi secured the title. Ukraine’s Bohdan Kolmakov emerged as the winner of the individual challenge event. Since 2007, Tianmen Mountain has hosted various international extreme challenge events and competitions, including the Wingsuit Flying World Championship and the World Parkour Championship, merging natural landscapes with extreme sports. (Xinhua) | 