'This is great': Bad weather fails to deter as Wolverhampton sports event hailed a success

Breaking (break-dancing), Scooter Freestyle and BMX Freestyle, the agenda was full for the final day of the three-day FISA Xperience event that took place in the city this weekend.

The event, the first of its kind to come to Wolverhampton, was a huge hit with thousands of alternative sports fans that travelled from across the UK to take part and watch the extreme competition.

While the final day may have been partially halted due to a spat of bad weather, the breaking was a consistent fan favourite, with hundreds of people stopping by the tent to watch the B-Boys and B-Girls compete for a top prize of £1,000.

Talking about the final day of the event, Julie Ferratier, events manager for the FISA Xperience, said: "The event has been great!

"This weekend we have had a range of spots, BMX, scooter, breaking. The event on Saturday was crazy, it was our most popular day, and thousands of people turned up for the day. It was amazing.

"It's been fantastic to bring sports that not many people might be able to see to Wolverhampton and give people a place to hang out and have fun."

Breaking, or break-dancing to the unfamiliar, was by far the most popular event following the popularity of its 2024 Olympic debut, with some break-dancers travelling from as far as London to take part.

Barnaby Woodbridge, who goes by the b-boy handle, Barney Trouble, 20, was one of the breakers from the House of Rebels crew, in Soho, who travelled from the nation's capital to compete.

He said: "This is a great event. They have a great stage and lots of people have turned up. This is what breaking is all that it's about, it's about entertaining people and coming together.

"It's great to see the sport becoming so popular. It wasn't that popular before the Olympics, but it's amazing to so many people getting involved."

Today's event also featured the final for the Freestyle Scooter Juniors competition, where three of the nation's fastest-rising scooter stars all took home medals.

Isaac Jose, 14, from Bournemouth, Archie Brooksbank, 15, from Northampton and Aaron Ashton, 14 from Northwich, took home first, second and third place prizes respectively.

They said: "It's been amazing to compete here today. It's a really well-organised event, it's unlucky that the weather took a turn for the worst, but it was an amazing experience.

"It's been amazing for the community, especially with where it is set, and it's always good to get the sport out there and give people a place to hang out.

"It's also really good exposure for younger people to see these types of action sports and to really get them involved in it. It's been amazing."

All three winners had previously competed for the team GB, in various categories, with Isaac and Archie even previously competing in France and Germany.

So, while the final event may have been struck by the usual typical bad English weather, the French event has proved to be a huge hit with residents with many saying it 'needs to return next year'.

Jeremy Taylor, 31, from Halesowen, said: "It's been great, me and the kids have come every day.

"It's just an amazing event to visit, there's been a really good vibe and it's been so much fun for everyone. You rarely get events like this so, yeah, it absolutely needs to return next year."