01 Sep 2024

The first-ever Junior Paragliding Champions!

The 1st FAI Junior World Paragliding Championship was held on August 18-31, 2024 in Tolmin, Slovenia. Klub letalcev Triglav and Aeronautical association of Slovenia with sponsorship by Triple Seven Gliders and Naviter organized the event.

The Meet director was Igor Eržen. The FAI Jury consisted of President Andy Cowley GBR, and 2 Jury members: Fabio Loro ITA and Matjaž Klemenčič SLO. The FAI Steward was Jamie Shelden USA.

76 participants from 16 to 26 years old competed in this well-known paragliding site. They came from 20 countries including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czechia, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Island, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Turkey, the United States. Many teams arrived with their team leaders among which were such famous pilots as Charles Cazaux FRA, Brett Janaway GBR and Yoko Sato JPN.

The youngest one was just 16 and the oldest 26. But the general level of competitors was very high. Interestingly the majority of them started flying because their fathers were also paragliders. So it was all the father’s fault :) There were a lot of PWC pilots among them, national champions and even European Paragliding Champion – Constance Mettetal.

The competition used two different take-offs depending on the weather: Kobala with goal field located near Tolmin with flights over Soca Valley and Lijak located close to Gorizia, with flights and goal in the adjacent valley. There were 7 valid tasks during the event of which 2 were stopped due to rain on course.

The tasks were mainly cat’s cradle type about 60 km on average. For many pilots, it was a real change to race along the mountain ridges. But the leaders knew the game well. It took them on average from 1h 15 min to 1 h 40 min to get to goal. The longest task was 78 km which the winner made in just 2 hours. (Watch a video of the typical day )

The landscapes were fascinating, the emerald river rolling its waves through the stone bed of the valley, sometimes narrowing to a tight gorge, sometimes opening wide when crossing the fields. Green forested slopes intermitted with yellowish pastures and grey stone rocks. Many pilots, especially girls, were enchanted by this beauty.

Sportive wise the competition was hard. There were a dozen of top experienced pilots each of them leading at a certain time. The first task was won by Marcelo Sanchez Vilchez ESP, Ivan Haas FRA, and Álvaro Camacho ESP. Marcelo later managed to win one more task, while the others did not. The next day when the task was cancelled Ivan went for a hike-and-fly and twisted his leg badly – the competition ended for him.

On the next task (task 3) the initiative was taken over by the French pilot Adrien Raisson, while Marcelo moved to second place. Remarkably, that day Dusan Surina from Slovakia rose to the top three and started his way to the podium. He was also the winner of the longest task of the comp - task 4 (78 km in 2h), followed by Flavio Funiati FRA and Marcelo Sanchez. On Task 5 the winner was Ondrej Pohorelsky from Czechia followed by Adrien and Flavio. On task 6 the famous French record breaker Justin Puthod ventured to the first place.

The next task 8 was stopped due to rain after 1h33min and was valid. Still, it was one of the most interesting tasks: the pilots flew from Kobala to Lijak - the local pilots said it had never been set before. It proved successful but the pilot did not manage to run away from the rain. That task podium was totally French: Adrien Raisson, Flavio Funiati, and Daphnée Ieropoli – a promising female pilot. In competitions since 2021 she was already on the podiums of two events: Piment paragliding and the French Junior championship. She was also 3 times female task winner in this event but lost the podium to more experienced Capucine Deliot also from France.

The female ranking initially was totally French: Capucine Deliot, Daphnée Ieropoli and Constance Mettetal for the first task. Daphnée, Constance, Capucine for the next. In task 4 Sara Ziimmerman SUI broke this company and came 3rd. And remarkably the same rank was preserved in Task 5! But in task 6 Celine Lorenz from Germany made all three of them step down – coming the first woman and 10th overall.

Task 8 Female winners were Daphnée, Celine, and Sara. But in task 9 Constance came the first thus securing her gold medal. Two gold medals in the same year - this will be one of her best reminiscences ever.

It is remarkable to notice that after task 8 Marcelo Sanchez has completely gone out of the top three in the competition overall. So he knew he had to be outstanding to return to the podium. And he did it. Endless happiness. Watch his interview on the goal of the final task.

You can also watch the champions' interviews on CIVL Facebook page.

In the national teams ranking throughout the event, it was a constant leapfrog between France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Czechia, occasionally interrupted by Germany or Slovakia. But the strongest won: France, Spain, and the UK were cheered at the prize-giving ceremony.

Congratulations to the winners!

Overall