As soon as the kick-off sounds, we run, we chase, we dodge, we jump in the air, we try to touch each other or we roll on the ground to escape. The principle of the World Chase Tag, or world championship game of “cat”, is the same as that practiced in the schoolyards: to catch and not to be caught.
But the favorite game of schoolchildren shows a very physical face at the first French qualifying tournament for the World Chase Tag, which takes place on July 8 and 9 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. It is practiced on a square stage, each side of which is twelve meters. A structure made of metal tubes (600 meters in all) and wooden planks offers refuges or obstacles to the two participants who compete in the arena, erected for the occasion at TwitchCon, an event organized by the platform. form of Twitch live video broadcast, in Paris.
One of the athletes on stage is the cat (or “chaser”, pursuer, in the jargon of the sport created in England) and must touch the mouse (“invader”, invader) who in return must avoid it. Each round lasts twenty seconds and gives rise to a ballet as powerful as it is elegant between the athletes. The winner scores a point for their team of six. He remains on the track while another member of the opposing team comes onto the field to confront him. The winning team is the one that wins by the score over sixteen rounds.
Parkour always
“What’s good about this sport is that you get hooked right away. You understand the rules very quickly. The images and gestures are immediately impressive”explains behind the scenes Yasmine, 24, who competes with the black and green jersey of the Toulouse team Urban Corp. “It’s creativity at the service of efficiency. You have to use all your technique to hit as quickly as possible.adds his partner Roxane, 23 years old.
Like many practitioners, the young woman with red hair is a fan of parkour, an acrobatic art of urban movement developed in the Parisian suburbs at the end of the 1980s. Sébastien Foucan, pioneer of parkour who we then saw with Madonna or face James Bond in Casino Royale (2006), has also made the trip with his Blacklist team. Many teams also train within structures dedicated to parkour, such as the Roubaisiens Parkour 59, reigning vice-world champions.
“But now being good at parkour is no longer enough to win in tournaments”notes the Lyonnais Loïc Ascarino, responsible for the World Chase Tag for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “There are moves or positions that anticipate each other and can be countered with other well-known moves. There’s a lot more strategy and possibilities than we initially imagined.”adds the Briton Damien Devaux, co-founder of the World Chase Tag with his brother Christian.
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