Alex Ploner wins European Hang Gliding Championships 2026
Alex Ploner and Christian Ciech have battled it out head-to-head for more than a decade
17 June, 2026, by Cross Country | Photos: FAI / Flavio TebaldiItaly’s Alex Ploner won gold at the FAI European Hang Gliding Championships in Gemona, Italy at the weekend – again!
It is the fourth time he has won the European Hang Gliding Championships. He won his first European Championships in 2012 in Turkey – and won again in Krushevo, North Macedonia in 2018 and Monte Cucco, Italy in 2022. He was flying an Icaro 2000 Laminar.
Ploner’s Italian teammate Christian Ciech (Icaro 2000 Laminar) came second – a re-run of the last European Championships in 2022. The Italian pair of friends and rivals have dominated hang gliding competition at European and World level for the last decade or more, with Ploner often – but not always – having the edge to grab gold.
Germany’s Primoz Gricar placed third (Aeros Combat GT).
In the Team competition Italy came out top – the sixth consecutive Team gold medal win at the Europeans. Germany and Austria were second and third.
The current Women’s Hang Gliding World Champion Austria’s Sasha Serebrennikova was the only woman taking part. With only one woman competing that meant no valid women’s class.
The two-week long competition saw seven valid tasks: 82, 93, 85, 118, 140, 89 and 120km. Task 6 was started but stopped early and did not score.
A total of 58 pilots from 14 countries took part.
Rigid Worlds 2026
The competition was held concurrently with the 11th FAI World Hang Gliding Class 5 Championships – rigids.
It also saw seven tasks (90, 97, 85, 130, 171, 98 and 120km) and was dominated by German father-and-son duo Karl and Markus Baisch.
Markus (AIR Atos Vrs) went on to win gold while his dad Karl (AIR Atos Vr) joined him on the podium in bronze medal position. Andreas Sand (AUT, AIR Atos Vr) took home the silver.
In the Nations category Germany took gold, with Austria and Japan in silver and bronze. Some 32 pilots took part.
With lower numbers competing in recent years it has become common to hold Cat 1 hang gliding Class 1 and Class 5 (rigids) competitions together, thus saving on logistics and making it financially easier all round to hold a high level competition.
