2016 FAI Annual Report

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FAI ANNUAL REPORT–2016 FAI ANNUAL REPORT–2016 10 11
Air Sports
Highlight
Events
From carving perfect arcs to the joy of hitting the raft,
the FAI Media Teamwas on hand to cover live competition
action. Throughout the year, in planning, preparation and
execution, the FAI worked with local organisers to help
cover and promote these events online and on social
media through photography, video and live reporting.
7th FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships
20-30 July, Matkopuszta, Hungary
It’s all about Unlimited–that’s the toughest class in Glider
Aerobatics and the master of them all is Ferenc Toth. The
Hungarian was on home turf, and it showed in the results:
he was almost 300 points ahead of silver medalist Janos
Szilagyi. Glider Aerobatics is graceful towatch– silent birds
swooping overhead – but tough on the pilots: G-force, heat
and tensionmake it a long game. Toth is on form–this was
his thirdWorld Championshipwin. Meanwhile, 20-year-old
Sebastian Jansson (SWE) won the (less testing) Advanced
Category inwhatwas only hisfirst international competition.
20th FAI European Aerobatic Championships
20-27 August, Moravska Trebova, Czech Republic
The Russians showed their dominance once again at
the FAI European Aerobatic Championships in the Czech
Republic, with aerobatics instructor Mikhail Mamistov
winning the title for an incredible fifth time. Add that to his
two World Champion titles and you see why he deserves
his reputation as a legend in the sport. Joining him on
the winners’ podium was team mate Svetlana Kapanina
(RUS), who won the Women’s title by the slimmest of
margins – just 0.54 points separated her from second
place Elena Klimovitch (RUS). It didn’t all go Russia’s way
however –France just pipped them to the top spot in the
Teamcategory. In the freestyle competition, Martin Šonka
impressed his own crowd–and won gold too.
2nd FAI World Paragliding Aerobatic Championship 2016
26 August to 3 September, Montmin-La Forclaz/
Doussard, France
What a sensation! You could feel every tense second as 34
pilots from16 nations competed in only the second ever FAI
World Paragliding Aerobatic Championship. Infinite tumble
is the spectacular move where pilots rotate directly over
their paraglider, but the crowds – and the pilots – loved
the thrill of the spiral touchdown on the raft moored in
the lake. Splashdown! A huge hit on social media, with
hundreds of thousands of video views. Congratulations
to François Ragolski (FRA) and Christina Kolb (GER) who
won the solo competitions, and Raul and Felix Rodriguez
(ESP) who won the synchro event.
60th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett
15-24 September, Gladbeck, Germany
Switzerland’s Kurt Frieden and Pascal Witpraechtiger won
the oldest and most prestigious gas balloon race in the
world for the second time in two years. After taking off at
midnight, the pair played a tactical race, rising to 5,000m
to fly south across the Alps. They raced down the length
of Italy in their open basket before steeling themselves
to cross open water to land in perfectly calm conditions
in Greece after three days in the air. They covered a total
of 1,803.40 km!
“Bringing live
air sports action
to the screen
in your hand.”