Italy’s Alex Ploner is the new hang gliding World Champion after a spectacular upset on the last task saw comp favourite Manfred Ruhmer deck it after 17km on a 154 km course.
Ploner went on to fly the course and make goal, ensuring he won the Championship. He said the hour after he heard Manfred had gone down was “the hardest in my life”.
“I didn’t want to believe it … I couldn’t believe,” he said afterwards.
Ploner’s win tops a great competition for the Italians, who also walked away with Team Gold.
Second place individual was Australia’s Jonny Durand, with Austria’s Thomas Weissenberger third.
Austria also took home the Silver medal in the team comp while Bronze went to home nation France.
The final race of the competition was a 154 km task won by Brazil’s Nene Rotor.
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