Marcelo Sanchez wins first FAI World Junior Championships
2 September, 2024, by Cross CountryThe first ever FAI World Junior Paragliding Championships have ended in Tolmin, Slovenia with a win for Spain’s Marcelo Sanchez and France’s Constance Mettetal in the women’s category, with the team win going to France.
“Flying in this spectacular landscape is a dream come true,” Marcelo, 22, posted mid-contest. He dominated the standings early on with a win on the first 46.4km task, following up with a second and third place on the next two tasks, winning the final task to seal his victory. France’s Adrien Raisson came second and Dusan Surina Jr from Slovakia came third.
Current European Women’s Paragliding Champion Constance Mettetal (FRA) won the women’s class with Celine Lorenz (GER) coming second and France’s Capucine Deliot in third.
“We had really nice weather,” Igor Eržen, race director, said: “We finished with seven tasks in two weeks and flew every day, even those days when we did not have a task it was flyable.
“We had almost 80 pilots from 20 countries and they really surprised me with their quality of flying. It was great. The French, the Spanish the Brits they came super strong and they showed what can be done in this valley.”
Jamie Shelden, the FAI steward, added: “It was very satisfying to see this group of young pilots who were so gracious and so sporting. That was a very big success. We had no safety issues – we had two reserves but that happens. It was a huge success in terms of safety fairness and satisfaction.”
The championships took place in Tolmin, Slovenia, a popular cross-country area and it was open to pilots born in 1998 or later.
Overall
1. Marcelo S Vilchez, ESP, Niviuk Icepeak X-One / Ozone Submarine, 5,136.4 points
2. Adrien Raisson, FRA, Niviuk Icepeak X-One / Ozone Submarine, 5,120.9 points
3. Dusan Surina Jr. SVK, Ozone Enzo 3 / Submarine, 5,076.2 points
Women
1. Constance Mettetal, FRA, Niviuk Icepeak X-One / Niviuk Drifter 2, 4,674.5 points
2. Celine Lorenz GER, Niviuk Icepeak X-One, 4,658.7 points
3. Capucine Deliot FRA, Ozone Zeno 2, 4,648.5 points
Nations
1. France
2. Spain
3. United Kingdom