Parkour: runaway success in Doha - 26th August 2020

The extreme sport parkour, also known as free-running, has a new set of fans in Doha, Qatar.

Started in France in the 1990s, it gained international attention after appearances in films such as James Bond's ‘Casino Royale’.

Parkour athletes run through cities jumping, vaulting and hurling themselves over obstacles as they go.

Parkour communities are well-established in many countries around the world, but outdoor sport is somewhat of a novelty in the Gulf States.

Free-running is now finding its audience among exercise enthusiasts put off by working out in gyms during the coronavirus pandemic.

South African Jaden Abrahams says the country has yet to fully embrace the sport.

Abrahams: “No matter where you go in the world there is places where people will get mad, will tell you off and then there's places where you can just do it freely.”

Achref Bejaoui, originally from Tunisia, believes Doha will accept free-running in time.

Bejaoui: “You know if you step on even the grass here, the security will ask you to leave, but I think now they get to know us because we keep coming here so they start feeling that we are playing safe, we are not doing anything wrong so I think it's getting famous, more and more."

Newcomer Karam Chakachero reflects on the appeal of parkour.

Chakachero: "I did my first back flip and I was like, okay, that's it, but then when I learnt it on the ground I was like, this is so cool! I want to do more.”