The New York Times - USA (2020-12-02)

B10 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020

20°

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Record

highs

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lows

FSSMTW

TODAY

TFSS

High High

Actual

Forecast

range

Low Low

Color bands

indicate water

temperature.

40 s

50s

60 s

White

36/20 Snow showers, windy

Green

35/19 Snow showers, windy

Adirondacks

32/17 Snow at times

Berkshires

39/27 Colder, evening flurries

Catskills

36/23 Cloudy with flurries

Poconos

38/25 Morning flurries, cloudy

Southwest Pa.

38/22 Snow showers ending

West Virginia

38/20 Morning flurries

Blue Ridge

44/22 Morning flurries

Today’s forecast

HHHHHH

HH

L

70s70s0s0s

80s 80

40s40s

30ss

20s 2

10 s

0s 20 0s 00

808 0s 0 8 80s80s80s 70 70s70s 70 0s

70s 70

60 s^60 s

60 s

50s

50s50s

50 s

50s 5

50s50s50s

40s 44 40s

40s 4

40 s

40s 4000 0s

40s 4 ss

40sss

30 s

30s 0

30ss

30s 3 s

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20s

Pierre

Bismarck

Fargo

Minneapolisn St. PaulS

Chicago

Milwaukeee

Indianapolisn l

Detroit

Clevelanddd Pittsburghghgh

WashingtonWashiashi

PhiladelphiaPhi

New YorkN

Richmchmond

NorfolkNNN

Raleighgh

Charlotte

Columbbia

Atlanta

JacksonvilleJ

OrlandoOr

Tampaa

Miami

Nassau

Birminghamm

MobileMo

NewNew

Orleans

Jackson

Baton Rougenn Rouge

Little Rocke ck

Memphis

NashvilleNNa

Louisville Charlestonrlesrleseeeonn

Caspererr Sioux oux Fallsx

Cheyenne

DenverDeDe

CColoradoC

SSpringsS

Winnipegeg

Reginnan

Billings

Helenenaen

BoiseBB

Spokaokakane

Vancouvero

SeattlSeSelee

Reno

SaSan Francciscocco

Fresnooo

Los Angeles

SSan Diegiegoieg

Honoluluoluluuu

HiloHH

Fa iFairbanksFair

Anchchorchhoragerage

Juneauuneauunun

Phoeoenixoe

TuTuucsonnn

Las

Vegas

Salt Lake

City

Albuquererqueer

Santa a Fea

LubbockL

El Pl P Paso Ft. Worth

DDallasDll

Oklklahoma Citykl C

San Antonionionio

Houstonton

Corpus ChristiC

Monterreyy

Eugenneee

Portlananddd

Albannynyy

BuffaloBuBu HartfordHaraa

ToToronto

OOttawaO

Montreal

Quebeecec

Burlinngtonnn n ManchesterMaM

BostonBos

PortlandPor

HalifaxHalif

Des Moines

Omahhah

Topeekaek

Wichita

Kansas

City

St.. Louis.

Springfielde

Much Above

Above

Normal

Below

Departure from

normal temperatures

in November

Miami

New York

Minneapolis

Salt Lake City

Los Angeles Amarillo

Highlight: November Temperature Departures

November was abnormally warm across the nation's midsection, with average tempera-
tures above to well above normal. The East was fairly mild as well with near- to slightly
above-average temperatures. The one exception was the Northwest, as several early-sea-
son cold shots kept temperatures slightly below normal.

Metropolitan Almanac

In Central Park, for the 16 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday.

Reservoir levels (New York City water supply)

Yesterday ............... 73%

Est. normal ............. 81%

Temperature

10°

20°

30°

40°

50°

60°

70° Record

high 70°

(2006)

high 48°

Normal

low 37°

Normal

(1875)

low 9°

Record

44°

4 p.m.

Midnight

62°

MON. YESTERDAY

4

p.m.

12

a.m.

6

a.m.

12

p.m.

4

p.m.

Avg. daily departure Avg. daily departure

from normal from normal

this month...................... +10.6° this year......................... +2.4°

Precipitation (in inches)

Yesterday ............... 0.00

Record .................... 1.72

Snow......................... 0.0

Since Oct. 1 .............. 0.0

For the last 30 days

Actual ..................... 3.59

Normal .................... 4.02

For the last 365 days

Actual ................... 46.78

Normal .................. 49.92

LAST 30 DAYS

Air pressure

High ........... 29.65 4 p.m.

Low ............ 29.47 1 a.m.

Humidity

High ............. 86% 1 a.m.

Low .............. 52% 1 p.m.

Heating Degree Days

An index of fuel consumption that tracks how

far the day's mean temperature fell below 65

Yesterday................................................................... 1 2

So far this month........................................................ 12

So far this season (since July 1) .............................. 629

Normal to date for the season ................................. 852

Trends Temperature Precipitation

Average Average

Below Above Below Above

Last 10 days

30 days

90 days

365 days

Chart shows how recent temperature and precipitation

trends compare with those of the last 30 years.

HL

TODAY’S HIGHS

FRONTS PRESSURE

COLD HIGH LOW MOSTLY SHOWERST-STORMS RAIN FLURRIES SNOW ICE

CLOUDY

WARM STATIONARY COMPLEX

COLD PRECIPITATION

<0 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+

Weather patterns shown as expected at noon today, Eastern time.

Cities
High/low temperatures for the 16 hours ended at 4
p.m. yesterday, Eastern time, and precipitation (in inches)
for the 16 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Expected conditions for today and tomorrow.

C ........................ Clouds
F ............................. Fog
H .......................... Haze
I............................... Ice
PC ............. Partly cloudy
R ........................... Rain
Sh ................... Showers

S .............................Sun

Sn ....................... Snow

SS .......... Snow showers

T ............ Thunderstorms

Tr ......................... Trace

W ........................ Windy

• ............... Not available
  Recreational Forecast

Sun, Moon and Planets

We a t h e r R e p o r t Meteorology by AccuWeather

Sun

Jupiter

Saturn

Moon

Mars

Venus

National Forecast

Boating

Last Quarter New First Quarter Full

Dec. 7 Dec. 14 Dec. 21 Dec. 29

Mountain and Ocean Temperatures

11:17 a.m. 10:29 p.m.

RISE 7:02 a.m.

SET 4:29 p.m.

NEXT R 7:03 a.m.

R 10:17 a.m.

S 7:47 p.m.

R 10:24 a.m.

S 7:58 p.m.

S 9:05 a.m.

R 6:18 p.m.

S 9:58 a.m.

S 2:41 a.m.

R 1:48 p.m.

R 4:43 a.m.

S 3:07 p.m.

United States Yesterday Today Tomorrow

N.Y.C. region Yesterday Today Tomorrow
46/ 38 PC 51/ 42 S
Bridgeport 58/ 49 Tr 45/ 35 PC 49/ 39 S
Caldwell 60/ 47 0.03 46/ 31 PC 51/ 34 S
Danbury 56/ 46 0 43/ 28 PC 48/ 30 S
Islip 57/ 48 Tr 45/ 32 C 49/ 38 S
Newark 61/ 48 0.01 47/ 33 PC 50/ 38 S
Trenton 56/ 44 0 44/ 30 PC 49/ 34 S
White Plains 58/ 45 0 43/ 32 PC 48/ 35 S

Albany 53/ 30 0.30 38/ 30 C 44/ 30 PC
Albuquerque 51/ 25 0 40/ 20 PC 41/ 21 S
Anchorage 34/ 30 0.09 36/ 19 Sn 23/ 12 C
Atlanta 44/ 28 0 54/ 30 S 57/ 43 PC
Atlantic City 54/ 38 0.01 49/ 36 W 56/ 44 S
Austin 62/ 45 0 64/ 37 PC 57/ 34 PC
Baltimore 45/ 33 0.04 48/ 32 S 54/ 38 S
Baton Rouge 57/ 33 0 62/ 53 PC 62/ 42 T
Birmingham 47/ 25 0 56/ 32 S 56/ 44 T
Boise 38/ 23 0 40/ 20 S 38/ 18 S
Boston 57/ 37 0.10 46/ 35 PC 48/ 38 S
Buffalo 34/ 31 0.40 40/ 34 SS 43/ 36 PC
Burlington 58/ 36 0.05 40/ 30 Sn 44/ 36 PC
Casper 31/ 12 0.05 28/ 10 C 37/ 17 S
Charlotte 46/ 26 0 54/ 29 S 59/ 39 S
Chattanooga 43/ 22 Tr 51/ 25 S 54/ 42 PC
Chicago 37/ 26 0 46/ 27 S 45/ 29 PC
Cincinnati 35/ 24 0.05 44/ 26 PC 44/ 34 C
Cleveland 35/ 31 0.78 40/ 26 PC 43/ 30 PC
Colorado Springs 40/ 18 0.01 29/ 15 Sn 41/ 23 S
Columbus 34/ 24 0.20 40/ 19 S 40/ 30 C
Concord, N.H. 60/ 32 0.16 40/ 28 PC 45/ 29 S
Dallas-Ft. Worth 59/ 44 0 53/ 35 R 50/ 31 C
Denver 39/ 16 0.01 28/ 16 PC 39/ 21 S
Des Moines 42/ 19 0 43/ 21 PC 36/ 23 PC
Detroit 37/ 28 0.23 44/ 27 S 43/ 29 PC
El Paso 62/ 32 0 51/ 30 S 47/ 27 PC
Fargo 37/ 22 0 32/ 21 PC 37/ 21 PC
Hartford 57/ 33 0.06 44/ 30 PC 48/ 31 S
Honolulu 84/ 69 0 84/ 70 PC 86/ 73 S
Houston 62/ 55 0 64/ 40 R 56/ 39 S
Indianapolis 35/ 22 0.01 44/ 26 S 44/ 31 C
Jackson 54/ 27 0 59/ 42 PC 56/ 40 T
Jacksonville 52/ 28 0 57/ 36 S 70/ 53 PC
Kansas City 50/ 27 0 47/ 31 C 38/ 26 C
Key West 70/ 61 0.08 73/ 68 PC 78/ 73 C
Las Vegas 63/ 39 0 60/ 37 S 56/ 36 S
Lexington 33/ 19 0.05 42/ 23 S 46/ 34 R

Little Rock 53/ 28 0 52/ 38 R 48/ 33 R

Los Angeles 76/ 50 0 73/ 50 S 71/ 46 S

Louisville 39/ 25 0.01 48/ 29 S 49/ 37 R

Memphis 50/ 30 0 56/ 40 PC 48/ 37 Sh

Miami 67/ 51 0 74/ 62 S 76/ 67 PC

Milwaukee 39/ 27 0 47/ 29 S 43/ 29 PC

Mpls.-St. Paul 38/ 21 0 39/ 25 PC 36/ 24 PC

Nashville 43/ 22 0 50/ 28 S 49/ 39 PC

New Orleans 56/ 42 0 65/ 58 S 69/ 51 T

Norfolk 52/ 35 0 52/ 36 S 57/ 40 S

Oklahoma City 56/ 33 0 39/ 31 R 40/ 26 C

Omaha 47/ 22 0 43/ 22 PC 38/ 22 PC

Orlando 56/ 37 0 62/ 48 PC 74/ 57 C

Philadelphia 48/ 35 0 45/ 33 PC 50/ 38 S

Phoenix 71/ 44 0 70/ 47 S 67/ 44 S

Pittsburgh 33/ 28 0.18 38/ 23 PC 41/ 29 PC

Portland, Me. 57/ 36 0.50 41/ 31 PC 43/ 34 S

Portland, Ore. 48/ 39 0.01 47/ 35 S 47/ 35 PC

Providence 57/ 36 0.14 46/ 32 PC 49/ 36 S

Raleigh 47/ 28 0 51/ 28 S 58/ 37 S

Reno 48/ 21 0 49/ 21 S 47/ 21 S

Richmond 49/ 31 Tr 51/ 28 S 56/ 36 S

Rochester 37/ 31 0.11 39/ 32 SS 43/ 34 C

Sacramento 62/ 33 0 63/ 37 S 63/ 35 S

Salt Lake City 39/ 21 0 39/ 20 S 40/ 20 S

San Antonio 61/ 47 0 64/ 37 PC 58/ 34 S

San Diego 72/ 49 0 72/ 51 S 71/ 49 S

San Francisco 60/ 43 0 60/ 45 PC 60/ 44 S

San Jose 64/ 39 0.01 63/ 41 S 65/ 39 PC

San Juan 83/ 73 0 84/ 74 PC 83/ 73 Sh

Seattle 47/ 36 0 50/ 35 S 48/ 36 S

Sioux Falls 43/ 20 0 38/ 22 S 38/ 21 PC

Spokane 36/ 23 0 36/ 23 S 38/ 24 S

St. Louis 43/ 23 0 50/ 33 PC 44/ 32 Sn

St. Thomas 83/ 75 0 84/ 75 PC 83/ 75 PC

Syracuse 45/ 32 0.12 38/ 31 SS 46/ 35 PC

Tampa 59/ 40 0 64/ 49 PC 75/ 60 PC

Toledo 39/ 29 0.13 45/ 26 S 43/ 29 PC

Tucson 70/ 37 0 69/ 38 S 60/ 37 W

Tulsa 57/ 37 0 46/ 36 R 44/ 30 Sn

Virginia Beach 55/ 34 0 51/ 34 S 58/ 39 S

Washington 45/ 34 0.01 48/ 33 S 53/ 40 S

Wichita 51/ 28 0 37/ 29 Sn 36/ 23 Sn

Wilmington, Del. 46/ 33 Tr 46/ 30 PC 50/ 37 S

Africa Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Asia/Pacific Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Algiers 70/ 45 0 62/ 45 Sh 62/ 46 S

Cairo 70/ 56 0 70/ 56 PC 72/ 56 S

Cape Town 68/ 57 0.04 73/ 57 W 76/ 60 S

Dakar 82/ 75 0 84/ 74 PC 84/ 74 PC

Johannesburg 78/ 56 0 82/ 53 S 73/ 55 PC

Nairobi 79/ 60 0.02 78/ 60 PC 77/ 59 PC

Tunis 69/ 53 0 69/ 52 C 60/ 47 PC

Baghdad 68/ 47 0 65/ 53 S 67/ 50 PC

Bangkok 84/ 73 0 85/ 75 PC 87/ 71 S

Beijing 40/ 20 0 39/ 17 PC 39/ 18 S

Damascus 64/ 42 0 62/ 45 PC 59/ 44 PC

Hong Kong 74/ 58 0 75/ 59 S 71/ 56 S

Jakarta 91/ 78 0.10 91/ 76 T 90/ 77 T

Jerusalem 62/ 44 0 57/ 42 S 59/ 41 S

Karachi 88/ 59 0 87/ 57 PC 86/ 59 PC

Manila 90/ 76 0 85/ 75 Sh 86/ 76 T

Mumbai 93/ 76 0 93/ 76 PC 92/ 75 PC

South America Yesterday Today Tomorrow

North America Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Europe Yesterday Today Tomorrow

New Delhi 80/ 53 0 82/ 53 PC 80/ 55 PC

Riyadh 66/ 59 0.22 73/ 61 PC 77/ 63 PC

Seoul 43/ 23 0 42/ 25 PC 41/ 24 S

Shanghai 57/ 47 0 56/ 43 PC 52/ 41 PC

Singapore 91/ 77 0.14 88/ 78 T 87/ 77 Sh

Sydney 92/ 65 0 77/ 61 PC 78/ 68 C

Taipei City 69/ 63 0.28 69/ 61 Sh 68/ 62 R

Tehran 57/ 39 0 54/ 42 PC 52/ 41 PC

Tokyo 57/ 44 0 50/ 48 R 56/ 48 PC

Amsterdam 50/ 44 0.27 43/ 40 PC 44/ 39 Sh

Athens 55/ 50 0.02 59/ 48 PC 61/ 54 C

Berlin 39/ 33 0.04 36/ 24 S 33/ 27 PC

Brussels 48/ 43 0.30 44/ 40 PC 43/ 40 Sh

Budapest 36/ 28 0 35/ 26 PC 36/ 34 C

Copenhagen 43/ 38 0.33 42/ 34 PC 37/ 36 PC

Dublin 48/ 39 0.02 45/ 35 PC 40/ 29 Sh

Edinburgh 45/ 31 0.02 46/ 34 PC 39/ 29 Sh

Frankfurt 36/ 32 0.22 37/ 31 PC 36/ 32 PC

Geneva 43/ 30 0.30 40/ 28 PC 37/ 31 PC

Helsinki 42/ 33 0.39 38/ 29 PC 31/ 29 C

Istanbul 48/ 43 0.07 50/ 44 C 57/ 45 S

Kiev 32/ 27 0.12 32/ 30 Sn 35/ 34 Sn

Lisbon 64/ 52 0 61/ 44 PC 58/ 53 PC

London 45/ 37 0 44/ 37 PC 43/ 35 Sh

Madrid 61/ 35 0 51/ 26 PC 48/ 39 PC

Moscow 33/ 26 0.17 25/ 18 PC 26/ 21 C

Nice 55/ 48 0.15 53/ 41 R 55/ 44 PC

Oslo 34/ 27 0 35/ 30 Sn 33/ 31 Sn

Paris 48/ 41 0.24 46/ 40 PC 44/ 41 R

Prague 34/ 26 0.01 30/ 24 PC 30/ 25 C

Rome 59/ 41 0.31 56/ 43 R 56/ 45 Sh

St. Petersburg 35/ 23 Tr 33/ 22 PC 29/ 23 C

Stockholm 36/ 31 0.17 36/ 33 PC 36/ 34 C

Vienna 34/ 27 0 31/ 28 PC 33/ 33 Sn

Warsaw 37/ 27 0 30/ 25 S 35/ 31 C

Acapulco 88/ 75 0 88/ 74 PC 88/ 74 PC

Bermuda 73/ 68 0.04 74/ 65 R 71/ 65 PC

Edmonton 29/ 20 0 32/ 20 S 36/ 24 S

Guadalajara 80/ 47 0 78/ 44 S 78/ 45 S

Havana 75/ 67 0.04 78/ 64 S 80/ 66 S

Kingston 87/ 73 0 88/ 76 PC 87/ 75 PC

Martinique 86/ 75 0.03 84/ 74 PC 84/ 74 PC

Mexico City 73/ 50 0.06 72/ 46 PC 73/ 45 C

Monterrey 67/ 36 0 75/ 35 S 61/ 33 PC

Montreal 52/ 43 0.24 38/ 28 C 40/ 33 C

Nassau 74/ 70 0.05 75/ 67 PC 77/ 70 S

Panama City 82/ 75 0.25 82/ 74 R 82/ 74 R

Quebec City 55/ 41 0.17 40/ 27 PC 33/ 31 C

Santo Domingo 86/ 70 0 85/ 70 S 84/ 70 PC

Toronto 36/ 28 0.39 39/ 30 S 40/ 33 PC

Vancouver 44/ 35 0 44/ 34 PC 45/ 38 C

Winnipeg 33/ 18 0 31/ 18 PC 34/ 19 S

Buenos Aires 84/ 63 0 81/ 66 PC 81/ 60 S

Caracas 87/ 75 0.10 87/ 73 T 87/ 72 PC

Lima 72/ 65 0 73/ 65 C 72/ 65 PC

Quito 65/ 53 0.18 66/ 53 Sh 66/ 53 Sh

Recife 82/ 77 0.02 85/ 79 PC 86/ 78 C

Rio de Janeiro 87/ 76 0.04 83/ 75 T 89/ 78 PC

Santiago 84/ 55 0 87/ 55 S 88/ 55 S

From Montauk Point to Sandy Hook, N.J., out to 20

nautical miles, including Long Island Sound and New York

Harbor.

Small craft advisory warranted. Wind west at 15-25 knots,

gusting to 30 knots. Waves 2-3 feet on New York Harbor,

2-4 feet on Long Island Sound and 5-8 feet on the ocean.

Visibility mostly unrestricted.

Atlantic City .................... 8:15 a.m. .............. 8:43 p.m.

Barnegat Inlet ................. 8:24 a.m. .............. 9:00 p.m.

The Battery ..................... 8:46 a.m. .............. 9:37 p.m.

Beach Haven .................. 9:46 a.m. ............ 10:27 p.m.

Bridgeport .................... 12:07 a.m. ............ 12:09 p.m.

City Island ..................... 11:48 a.m. ......................... ---

Fire Island Lt. .................. 9:14 a.m. .............. 9:55 p.m.

Montauk Point ................ 9:57 a.m. ............ 10:34 p.m.

Northport ..................... 12:06 a.m. ............ 12:11 p.m.

Port Washington ........... 11:58 a.m. ......................... ---

Sandy Hook .................... 8:28 a.m. .............. 9:09 p.m.

Shinnecock Inlet ............. 8:28 a.m. .............. 8:56 p.m.

Stamford ...................... 12:03 a.m. ............ 12:09 p.m.

Tarrytown ..................... 10:35 a.m. ............ 11:26 p.m.

Willets Point .................. 11:48 a.m. ......................... ---

High Tides

New York City 62/ 44 0

Metropolitan Forecast

TODAY ...........................Partly sunny, windy

High 46. A wind will continue to bring in

chilly air, holding temperatures a few

degrees below average. A gusty wind will

make it feel even colder, with a mix of

sunshine and clouds.

TONIGHT ...................................Mostly clear

Low 38. A seasonably cold night will

unfold. The wind will slacken a bit under a

mainly clear sky as high pressure ap-

proaches.

TOMORROW ............................Mostly sunny

High 51. High pressure passing close by

will result in a more tranquil day, with

lighter breezes. It will be sunny, and it will

not feel as chilly.

FRIDAY .............................Showers possible

High pressure will move offshore. Behind

it, clouds will return and there will be a

possibility of showers.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY ................................Chance of rain

It will be mostly cloudy on Saturday, and

there could be some rain. High 49. Sun-

day is also looking to be mostly cloudy,

with a chance of rain. High 46.

Lake-effect snow will wind down from

the mountains of West Virginia to north-

ern and western New York State today.

Cold air that was pent up west of the

Appalachians on Tuesday will spread to

the New England and Mid-Atlantic coasts.

The air will moderate over much of the

Southeast and the Midwest with the aid

of sunshine. Farther west, a storm that

brought spotty snow to the Rockies on

Tuesday will push across the southern

Plains, with rain and snow from Kansas to

Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma.

Several inches of snow will fall on parts

of western and central Kansas. Much of

the West will be dry as Santa Ana winds

begin to kick up in Southern California. A

strong Santa Ana event is possible from

Thursday to Friday.

It will be a windy and cold day. Snow will

fall throughout the day from western

Maine to the Adirondacks. Farther south,

snow showers will gradually diminish and

end from West Virginia through western

Pennsylvania. The Blue Ridge Mountains

will be partly sunny, with a cold wind.

Parkour, the video-friendly
sport in which daredevils race
over rooftops, flip over ledges and
climb walls without assistance or
equipment, has always felt a little
different. Its freewheeling ethos
makes it stand out from other
sports, and that perception is en-
couraged by its fans, athletes and
organizers.
But as the sport’s popularity
has increased since its emergence
in the late 1980s, it has become
more organized. And with the lure
of a major leap in legitimacy on
the horizon, the sport has been
drawn into an intramural feud
over who governs the acts of spin-
ning, twirling athletes spectacu-
larly catapulting themselves
through an urban landscape.
The feud has reached the point
that one side — parkour’s interna-
tional federation — said on Tues-
day that it did not want what is
considered the holy grail of recog-
nition for just about every other
lesser-known sport: inclusion in
the Olympics.
Parkour began to catch main-
stream popularity in the 1990s and
2000s, as the video-readiness of
the eye-catching sport helped it
become a television and YouTube

staple, and later, a social media

sensation.

Early parkour practitioners

emphasized philosophies like

freedom and expressiveness al-

most as much as the physicality of

the sport, which derives from mili-

tary training and combines ele-

ments of gymnastics, martial arts

and climbing. Competitiveness

and rivalry were shunned as be-

ing against the nature of parkour.

Despite that, a parkour federa-

tion was founded in 2007 to ex-

pand the sport, but also to add

competitive events. In 2017, the in-

ternational gymnastics federa-

tion, F.I.G., seeing a way to tap into

a younger audience, began hold-

ing parkour events as well, saying

the sport was a natural extension

of their own.

That put the two federations at

loggerheads as both organized

competing events. The gymnas-

tics federation held a World Cup in

2018, and a first world champi-

onships, initially scheduled for

2020 in Hiroshima, Japan, is now

on the calendar for 2021.

There are the two main events

of competitive parkour, which

would be candidates for the

Games someday. In speed run,

athletes race over a course with-

out pausing for tricks or specialty

moves, with only their time count-

ing toward their victory. In free-

style, the athletes are judged sub-

jectively on difficulty and execu-

tion.

The International Olympic

Committee is meeting on Monday

to decide on the program for the

2024 Olympics in Paris. No new

sports are expected to be added,

beyond a few that were already

chosen, like break dancing. But in-

dividual federations already in the

Games may seek to add events to

their lineups. That gives the gym-

nastics federation a chance to ask

to include parkour events, leaving

out the parkour federation.

“Parkour has been recognized

as a sovereign, distinct, and inde-

pendent sport in its own right, and

as such cannot be considered a

discipline of, or subsidiary to,

gymnastics or any other sport,”

the parkour federation, Parkour

Earth, said in a letter to the I.O.C.

on Tuesday. “F.I.G.’s encroach-

ment and misappropriation of our

sport continues.”

The two federations and the

I.O.C. did not respond to requests

for comment. Their dispute was

reminiscent of a conflict over

stand-up paddleboarding in 2017.

Each of the canoeing and surfing

federations said they were the

rightful steward of the sport.

Eventually, surfing won.

The Tokyo Games, now sched-

uled for 2021, are planning to add

five sports, although they have

been approved for that Games

only: baseball and softball (which

the I.O.C. counts together), kar-

ate, sport climbing, surfing and

skateboarding.

The I.O.C. is expected to ap-

prove sport climbing, surfing,

skateboarding, plus break danc-

ing for Paris 2024.

Regardless of which federation

wins the battle, there are also

parkour enthusiasts out there

who have always failed to see the

appeal of the Olympics and be-

lieve the ultracompetitiveness of

the Games conflicts with the spirit

of parkour. It is an internal conflict

that has also surfaced in other

sports with unconventional ethos,

like snowboarding and skate-

boarding.

“Parkour by nature is noncom-

petitive, so as soon as you make it

a competition, to me, it is not park-

our anymore, it is just the moves,”

the vice president of the Austral-

ian Parkour Association, Amy

Han, told ABC News of Australia

in 2017.

Ryan Doyle, an English legend

of the sport, said in 2010: “Some-

times, people ask, ‘Who is the best

at parkour?’ and it's because they

don’t understand what parkour is.

‘Who is the best?’ is what you’d

say to a sport, and parkour is not a

sport, it is an art form, it’s a disci-

pline. That’s like saying, ‘what’s

the best song in the world?’ ”

In Fight for Soul of Parkour, Its Federation Wants No Part of the Games

By VICTOR MATHER

The parkour athlete Joseph Henderson. The international gym-

nastics federation wants to have parkour events in Paris in 2024.

PETER CZIBORRA/REUTERS

Complaints that

gymnastics is trying

to co-opt a sport.

OLYMPICS