The 18th Asian Games get underway in Indonesia later this week. And for the first time, paragliding pilots will be among the thousands of athletes competing, as the air sports takes its place alongside more than 40 other sports involved in this action-packed, pan-Asian event.

Both cross-country (XC) and accuracy paragliding are making their debut at this year’s Games, with pilots from across Asia battling it out for the six gold medals up for grabs.

The XC competition will begin on August 20 and will last for three days, culminating in a medal ceremony on August 23. The Accuracy event will start on August 24, with successful participants receiving their medals on August 29.

Both events will be held at the Gunung Mas Puncak amusement park in Bogor in West Java, close to Jakarta.

We wish all the pilots taking part the best of luck!

About the 18th Asian Games

The 2018 edition of the Asian Games will run from August 18 to September 2, beginning with an Opening Ceremony at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on August 18.

This year, for the first time, the event is being split between two locations: the Indonesian capital Jakarta and the South Sumatran capital Palembang.

A total of 47 sports, including tennis, archery and golf, will be on the agenda at the 2018 Games, which will also involve a number of other new sports, such as the Central Asian wrestling sport Kurash.

Athletes from 47 different nations are expected to take part in this latest edition of the Games, which have been running since 1951.

Photo credit: azoom.ch/Martin Scheel