Brasilia has greeted the participants of 21st FAI World Hang Gliding Class 1 Championship. From August 6 till 19, 142 pilots from 29 countries will be competing in the skies of Brazil with flights between Formosa (GO) and the Federal District.

One of the favorites is current world champion Christian Ciech, winner of the Valle de Bravo in Mexico in 2015. Other pilots also contenders for the title, are the top five in the ranking: Australian Jonny Durand, number one Pre-World Cup winner in 2016 in Brasilia, Brazilian André Wolf, Italians Filippo Oppici and Davide Guiducci, and Austrian Thomas Weissenberger.

While Brasilia and the surrounding municipalities will serve for the landings, the city of Formosa, in Goiás, will serve for launches in the Paranã Valley. The official take off is Paraná Valley Ramp, in Formosa (GO). Located 92 km from the Federal Capital, the city of Goiás has a take off at about 1,000 meters ASL and, because it has a dry climate and constant wind, attracts Brazilian and foreign pilots.

Brasília received in 2016 the Pre-World Championship, between August 26 and September 3. Jonny Durand, World number 2 at that time, confirmed the favor of the public and won the competition.  The runner-up was Carlos Niemeyer, followed by Davide Guiducci.  Françoise Dieuzeide-Banet (FRA) was the first among Women. In the competition for teams, the title was won by Italy.

There will be 29 countries with the largest delegations being Japan (13 pilots), Brazil (12) and the United States (10). The other confirmed countries are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, France, Britain, Guatemala, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, Paraguay , Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and Venezuela.

Havaí do Voo Livre - Known globally as the "Free Flight Hawaii", Brasilia is one of the ideal places to practice free flights in the country. The city has prevailing winds from the eastern quadrant and the climate is quite dry at this time of year, which provide fantastic flights of up to five hours. The thermal currents are used by the pilots to gain height and to realize flights of up to 170 km of distance, using only the energy of nature.

Brazil in the World Cup - Brazil has hosted the World Championship twice - in 1991 and 2003. The first athlete to put the country in the highest place of the podium of the competition was Pepê Lopes, in the year of 1981, in Beppu (Japan). Ten years later, in 1991 Governador Valadares (MG) hosted for the first time the Worlds and Pepê Lopes was at the second place, Paulo Coelho's third place and the national team's runner-up. In 2003 the Wolrds were set in Brasilia but the podium was all dived between European pilots with 1st being Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) - 4 times HG Class 1 World Champion who 2 days ago has become HG Class 2 World Champion for the 7th time in his life.  The other two were: 2d - Robert Reisinger (AUT) and 3rd - Antoine Boisselier (FRA).

The World Championship is sponsored by the Caixa and the Federal Government. The event counts on the support of Gollgi, Government of Formosa, CONFAE, Secretariat of Sport and Leisure of Brasília, National Museum, Secretary of Culture, Brasília Airport, Brazilian Air Force (FAB), Firemen of Goiás, Federal District, Rádio Transamérica, Home - Orthopedic Hospital and Specialized Medicine, Sportfisio, Super Ar - Free Flight School, Sol Paragliders and the Voe Tur Group as the official tourism agency. It is an accomplishment of the Brazilian Confederation of Free Flight (CBVL), International Aeronautical Federation (FAI) and Confederation of Brazilian Aircraft (CAB), in a production of Zenith Marketing.

The Brasilia Worlds kicked off last night with a very energetic and super fun opening ceremony at the National Museum. The museum is an iconic white domed building in the center of the city designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Teams were paraded down the dome's footbridge and greeted at the bottom by a Brasilian women's drum troop called Batala. 
They were amazing and managed to get most teams boogying down the ramp.

More information:
Competition website: http://www.brasilia2017.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Brasilia2017
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brasilia2017

Live reports as always on CIVL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fai.civl/