Seungil Ahn and Dagyeom Lee of South Korea are 2021 Paragliding Accuracy World Champions. The World Championships were held in Prilep, North Macedonia, from 6-16 October.
Despite being unlucky with the weather, which offered rain, more rain and then snow, three rounds were successfully completed in between the showers – enough to validate the competition.
The small number of rounds meant competitors did not get the opportunity to discard their worst result, so consistency was imperative. One slip of a wet shoe on the target could, and did, mean rankings slipping irretrievably for some pilots. Two of the three rounds ended on a different day, in different conditions, to which they had started.
Launches were a mixture of hill and tow. Organiser Martin Jovanoski said: “This was crucial; all the valid rounds were done by winch launching. But the pressure that the weather has put on us was exceptional. We had to set and unset the landing many times, get soaking wet in the rain, clear out new take-off spots, pump the water out of the landing zone, etc. I would like to thank all who worked with me on this event for great teamwork. Without the total commitment of all, it would not have been possible”.
Results
Overall:
1. Seungil Ahn (South Korea) – 1 point
2. Vlastimil Vachtl (Czech Republic) – 3 points
3. Dagyeom Lee (South Korea ) – 5 points
Women:
1. Dagyeom Lee (South Korea) – 5 points
2. Marketa Holubova Tomaskova (Czech Republic) – 5 points
3. Eunyoung Cho (South Korea) – 8 points
Teams:
1. South Korea – 10 points
2. Czech Republic – 14 points
3. Slovenia – 29 points
See all the results here.
