Thalgau Hosts Only Series Stop In Austria

The World Air Sports Federation (FAI)’s only stop in Austria saw 195 athletes from 23 countries compete in parachute landing accuracy. In this segment, skydivers try to land on a coin-size target from 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) above.

The competition was held in Thalgau and 39 teams, with five jumpers each, were required to land on a ten-cent coin. Teams or individuals who touched down the shortest distance from the coin were awarded points toward the World Cup.

The weather cooperated with a bright sunny day, which was a good thing because weather is always a crapshoot in any aviation-related activity. The Friday-through-Sunday event sailed through the rounds and finished Sunday morning with all jumps completed.

The Czech team dominated the standings by winning the team overall in both male and female categories. Their wins were aided by individual performances by Old?ich Šorf winning the male title and his teammate Michaela Mynarova taking the podium from among the females.

Other winners were Germany’s Thomas Schneider taking the gold in the Masters category and Michael Urban of the host team HSV Red Bull Salzburg winning the Juniors category for his hometown. The 22-year-old Urban also finished an impressive 15th in the men’s competition by coming through with strong jumps for a combined total deviation of just 12 cm.

Urban explained, "I was very nervous before the competition because I really wanted to defend my title. Saturday's conditions were very challenging, with lots of thermals and little wind, which requires a lot of experience that I naturally don't have yet. But overall, it went really well. The team was really important, we always cheered each other up if someone had a bad jump, and that motivation made a huge difference.”

FMI:  www.fai.org/