France is World Champion in distance paragliding.
From August 5 to 18, 2019, the 17th World Distance Paragliding Championships will take place in Krushevo in Macedonia.
The French team has made very good results.
Gold medal for Meryl Delferrière in the female ranking.
Gold medal by team tied with the Italian team.
Bronze medal for French Honorin Hamard in the general classification Joachim Oberhauser the Italian and Gleb Skhotsky the Russian.
149 pilots representing 48 Nations over a total of 10 competition heats. A heat is a course that the competitors must cover while flying while respecting a certain number of markers in order with for but going as quickly as possible. Some heats exceed 100 kilometers. Some pilots complete the round, others do not.
Pilots know where the beacons are located thanks to their GPS which indicates each validated beacon.
After an excellent start to competition, followed by a few disappointing heats in the middle of the championship, the favorite French team fought to the end. The end of the event was very close, which shows that the world level is climbing every year.
It is finally thanks to the regularity of this team, on the one hand the tenacity of Honorin Hamard which allowed him to climb on the podium in the last heat, as well as the almost first first places in all the heats of Meryl Delferrière that the French team was able to score precious points.
Didier Mathurin, the coach, confirms that France is still at the top of the World in distance paragliding events.
The video summary of the 3rd round: