Performance characteristics of Parkour practitioners: Who are the traceurs?

{Parkour is a modern physical activity that consists of using the environment, mostly urban, as a playground of obstacles. The aims of this study were (i) to investigate age, anthropometric and training characteristics of Parkour practitioners, called `traceurs' and (ii) to assess jump performances and muscular characteristics of traceurs, compared to those of gymnasts and power athletes. The mean age of the population of traceurs studied (n = 130) was 19.4 +/- 4.3 years, women represented 12.4% of the total field and mean training volume was 8.1 +/- 0.5 hours/week. Vertical and long jump performances were analysed on smaller samples of participants (four groups