Tim Shieff

Timothy "Livewire" Shieff (born March 24, 1988 in Hartford, Connecticut) is a professional English Freerunner. He is best known for winning the 2009 Barclaycard World Freerun Championship and participating on the television programme MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge.^[1][2] Shieff uses the nickname Livewire while performing freerunning. In 2011 and 2012 he appeared in the televised American Ninja Warrior competition, and in 2014 he appeared on a special "USA vs. The World" edition of American Ninja Warrior, where he helped lead Team Europe to victory over Team USA and Team Japan. In terms of Freerunning competitions won, Tim Shieff is currently one of the most successful athletes in the world, achieving victories and runner up places in events such as The Barclaycard World Freerun Championships, and the Red Bull Art Of Motion. He was a judge in the 2013 Art of Motion in Santorini for the criteria of creativity.^[3]

Personal life

Shieff was born in Connecticut and moved to the UK when he was three.^[4] As a child, Shieff took breakdance lessons which strongly influenced his style of freerunning. Besides, he is famous for his upper body strength and—therefore—for his (one-armed) handstands and "human flags".

Livewire aroused public interest through performing at Red Bull Art of Motion shows and his videos on YouTube which have gained multiple million views.^[5] In 2008, he ranked 2nd at the World Freerunning Championship, before he achieved first place the following year.

Prior to the fifth season of American Ninja Warrior, Shieff became a vegan.

Appearances

Since becoming famous, Shieff appeared on various late night shows in the United States, such as Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.^[6] He also took part in the filming of the last Harry Potter film entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, acting as a Death Eater.^[7]

Tim Shieff appeared on Top Gear, Series 20 Episode 2, racing a motorcycle through the offices of the BBC in London.

Career

Tim Shieff is a member of the World Freerunning & Parkour Federation and of the British freerunning project Storm Freerun.^[8][9]

Livewire's career with Storm Freerun is shared with other freerunners such as Paul "Blue" Joseph, Kie Willis, Ashley "Spyder" Holland, Phil Doyle, and Pip "Piptrix" Andersen. Their most viewed video on YouTube—Storm Freerun - Volume 1-- has reached over 5 million views.

Livewire has also recorded a few Drum and Bass tracks in cooperation with a friend.^[10]

In April 2013 Shieff appeared in the music video for Disclosure's hit single "You & Me". In the video he is seen traveling across Europe (with Lauren Johns - who also appeared on Delilah's music video "Breathe")

References