On May 12, in the 2024 Parkour World Cup Montpellier competition held in France, 28-year-old former Chinese gymnastics women's team athlete Shang Chunsong won the women's freestyle championship, which was the first World Cup gold medal for the Chinese parkour team, which was a milestone. Another Chinese player, Li Meihui, won the bronze medal in the event, and Yang Xiaoqiang finished seventh in the men's freestyle.
After the game, Shang Chunsong said that although the action was flawed and not particularly perfect, he did it. She must not forget her original intention and continue to work hard.
Parkour is a new and popular sport for young people, as it is an extreme street sport in which athletes run and jump through obstacles. Parkour became an official sport of the International Gymnastics Federation in 2018, and China began to form a national parkour team in 2020.
Born in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province in 1996, Shang Chunsong was the captain of the Chinese women's gymnastics team, leading the Chinese women's team to win the women's team runner-up at the 2014 and 2015 World Gymnastics Championships, and the team bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In addition, at the Rio Olympics, Shang Chunsong won the fourth place in the individual all-around and the fifth place in the uneven bars.
As she grew older, Shang Chunsong faded out of the national team, but she did not give up her gymnastics career and has always been active in the arena, and she hopes to become "China's Chusovitina".
Since 2022, Shang Chunsong has been exposed to parkour. Because of her gymnastics skills, she quickly got started. In July of that year, she returned to her hometown Zhangjiajie and participated in the Tianmen Mountain Cloud Ladder Parkour Competition.
Flying up and down, Shang Chunsong, who was as light as a swallow, enjoyed this "art of movement" to the fullest.
In December 2023, Shang Chunsong participated in the first National Parkour Championship and won the women's freestyle championship.
On May 12, Shang Chunsong won the gold medal in the World Cup in France. From 2016 to 2024, from competitive gymnastics to parkour, she regained her podium in world-class competitions after eight years!
Gymnastics Olympic champion Liu Xuan congratulated Shang Chunsong for the first time: "I am really happy for her to win the championship in the parkour World Cup for the first time!" Liu Xuan also said that gymnastics is the foundation of many sports, such as diving, skateboarding, snowboarding, parkour, etc., and athletes can transform at any time.
(Michau Sports)