by Ian Stuart, Altis UK
Recently I reported that Antonio Burian, aged just 18, won the Romanian National Championship and, as a result, qualified for the Paragliding World Cup in China.
I am delighted to report that he was placed 31st in a field of 118 of the world’s top pilots. This is a remarkable achievement for such a young amateur pilot. Antonio is currently at University and has a part time job whilst many of those at the world cup were professional pilots with many years, or even decades, of experience.
Antonio writes:
The second World Cup of the season took place in Linzhou, China. A place filled with friendly and super welcoming locals, weird, yet delicious food and with stonking flying conditions! The competition saw six flyable tasks, experiencing light but also strong conditions with thermals up to 7m/s. It was a pleasure to fly amongst the world’s best pilots and achieve a reasonable rank. A lot of mistakes made throughout the week but they were parts of my learning curve and I’m glad I’ve made them. Looking forward to more World Cups and more competitions! A massive thank you goes to Altis Consulting and the British Paragliding Racing Academy for helping me out!
“Reasonable” indeed!!
We congratulate Antonio on this amazing result and we wish him continued success.
Antonio’s achievements to date:
- broke the cross country flight site record at his home site in Kent
- won the Dover and Folkestone Club’s Cross Country League
- gained 32nd spot at his first British Championships
- gained 2nd place in the Leisure class and 13th overall at the Gin Wide Open at Krusevo
- flew in the second round of the British Championships at St Andre, finishing 4th in his class
- won the Romanian National Championship
- placed 31st out of 118 in the Paragliding World Cup
