The first ever Barclaycard World Freerun Championships come to London

Barclaycard has announced the inaugural Barclaycard World Freerun Championships which will be staged in September at Camden’s iconic Roundhouse. This standout occasion for the capital features a specially designed course constructed as a massive challenge for more than 20 top-flight international freerunners.

Freerunning began as an urban expression of freedom and athleticism in Paris in the 1990s. Its exponents perform breathtaking combinations of running, climbing, jumping, vaults, spins, flips and somersaults, usually across an urban landscape.

This groundbreaking Barclaycard sponsored event will be a global celebration, showcasing the awesome artistry of the world’s best athletes in this incredible urban sport. Each will perform to the accompaniment of his own individually selected soundtrack and in a unique twist, each will be judged by his fellow competitors. The Barclaycard World Freerun Champion will be the athlete who displays the greatest skill, complexity and above all, fluidity or “flow”.

Sponsorship of the World Freerun Championships marks an exciting time for Barclaycard. Dan Mathieson, Barclaycard Head of Sponsorship, said, “Barclaycard is really excited to be bringing the inaugural World Championships of this spectacular, fast growing sport to London. We feel the fluidity and freedom of movement associated with free running mirror the key needs of Barclaycard customers, especially those using the Barclaycard OnePulse card in London allowing contactless travel and purchases across the capital.”

Championship organisers, World Freerun Ents, share a similarly upbeat view of Barclaycard’s involvement. “World-class brands have been getting more and more into the freerun thing,” said Championship spokesman and Urban Freeflow supremo, Ez, “but we always make sure that we are comfortable with any commercial tie-ups and that they make sense for the freerun lifestyle. The clincher for us here is that Barclaycard’s global ambitions for the sport match our own.”

Barclaycard’s role as main sponsor complements that of associate sponsors Sony Ericsson, The Carphone Warehouse and Adidas.

Dave Hilton, Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson, UK & Ireland said “Everyone at Sony Ericsson and The Carphone Warehouse are really excited to be an associate sponsor of the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships. The event is a celebration of artistic freedom mixed with high-value entertainment - the same attributes as the new Sony Ericsson C702 and W760i handsets. As experts in mobile entertainment, we’re proud to support this unique event by developing compelling freerun content for our customers.”

Jascha Muller, responsible for Global Sports Marketing at adidas said, “Adidas is proud to support and sponsor the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships. Freerunning is an inspirational activity and adidas is working closely with the athletes to create the adiScape range; bespoke footwear and clothing that perform to the specific needs of the sport.”

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Notes to Editors

About Barclaycard
Barclaycard is a multi-brand credit card and consumer lending business which also processes card payments for retailers and merchants and issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government. It is one of Europe’s leading credit cards businesses and has an increasing presence in the United States.

Outside the UK, Barclaycard provides credit cards in the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal. In the Nordic region, Barclaycard operates through Entercard, a joint venture with Swedbank.

Barclaycard OnePulse
Barclaycard OnePulse is the name of the unique card that combines the ease and convenience of Oyster with the security and flexibility of Barclaycard and new contactless technology, ideal for commuters who live and work around London.

For further media information contact:
Andrew Bond
Barclaycard Press Office
1234 Pavilion Drive
Northampton
NN4 7SG
01604 251229
www.barclaycard.co.uk

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