The playground game tag has been turned into an international sport – and its largest ever contest is coming to London.
World Chase Tag was patented after the Windsor-based Devaux family came up with the idea to play tag using garden items as obstacles.
The WCT governing body oversees games involving professional parkour athletes and free runners in Asia, the USA and Europe, and online footage of the playground game grown up has garnered millions of views.
Each player has 20 seconds to tag an opponent as they jump over obstacles, with the winner staying on to face the next challenger.
The WCT European Championships will be held at York Hall in Bethnal Green this month. Trained parkour experts will be on hand to help, while former I’m A Celebrity presenter Laura Whitmore will be among the Londoners trying out the sport for the first time.
She said: “I remember playing this game as a kid, and you have to duck, dodge, jump around and now there are obstacles involved, so it’s kind of like being a big kid – but it’s a big sporting event played all over the world. I always think ‘have fun and play’ – we don’t play enough anymore, we are all a bit too serious.
“I think finding fun in some sort of sport the way to do it.”
The group's founder Christian Devaux said: “We can’t wait for Londoners to try out the course and get a feel for what World Chase Tag is all about.”
June 26 and 27, York Hall, E2 9PJ, head here
