Flying high: final FAI World Air Games medals awarded

Twelve sets of medals were awarded at the Closing Ceremony of the FAI World Air Games in Dubai, as the sun set on the two-week event celebrating air sports from around the world.

While competitors collected their medals, a stunning Airshow including aerobatic planes, gliders, hot air balloons and skydivers filled the sky, entertaining the crowd of more than 1,000 people.

Paramotoring gold medallist Alex Mateos of France said: "This ceremony is exceptional. It's the first time I've been part of anything so big."

The bulk of the medals presented at the ceremony were for skydiving events that finished either late yesterday or this morning, with the USA, Russia, and China among the nations collecting golds.

Eugene Tarakhomin of Russia collected his medal with his two-year-old son, Konstantin, on his shoulders. "We are a team," said the skydiver who won gold in the Freeflying Artistic Event and silver in the Freestyle. "He supports me in every way, so we shared the medal."

The Czech team lead the parachute accuracy landing for most of the competition, but were eventually trumped by the Russians, who took gold with a strong performance in the final rounds.

For full results of all the FAI World Air Games competitions, take a look at the Live Scoring on the World Air Games Dubai website: http://wagdubai.ae/scores/ScoreSheet

By Andy Pag

Photos: FAI Media Team

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