Théo de Blic crowned Acro World Tour Champion
12 September, 2024, by Cross CountryThéo de Blic has been crowned Acro World Tour Champion for the seventh time, following the AWT Superfinal in Ölüdeniz, Turkey.
The French pilot went into the final contest of the season ranked in first place. His win in the AWT Superfinal, which was held 2-7 September, means he has racked up 12 competition wins in the history of the AWT, surpassing the record of 11 wins previously held by acro legend Horacio Llorens.
Luke de Weert came second and Bicho Carrera picked up third.
For the synchro competition, Théo teamed up with Luke to become the 2024 Acro World Tour synchro champions. The Women’s Acro World Tour champion is Daniela Freutsmiedl.
Despite his dominance, there were some sketchy moves in Ölüdeniz for Théo, including one panicked moment when he lost a brake while doing a twisted infinite. “For the explanation, I forgot to make a knot on my brake,” Théo, a regular columnist for Cross Country magazine, posted afterwards.
This year the Acro World Tour consisted of six competitions held in Europe between June and September. They included: the Nest Games in St Hilaire du Touvet in June; Kings of the Box in Allevard, France in June; the Swiss Championships in July; Acromax in Lago Dei Tre, Italy in August; the Sonchaux Acroshow in Switzerland in August; and the World Acro Tour Superfinal 2024 in Turkey in September.
FAI Acro World Championships
As soon as the AWT Superfinal had finished in Turkey, the 4th FAI World Paragliding Aerobatics Championships started.
The Acro World Championships will run until 15 September. Thirty-five pilots from 13 countries are taking part and the line-up includes Théo de Blic and 2023 Acro World Tour winner Luke de Weert. No fewer than eight women are competing including last year’s AWT women’s champion Gaby Fonck.
Unfortunately the weather has not been favourable so far. “On Tuesday the first competition round was held. But after eight pilots the launch was closed due to low clouds and strong wind,” organisers wrote on the competition blog.
On Thursday however the weather improved allowing the first runs to take place – competitors are optimistic about the weather for the rest of the championship.
RESULTS
