Batsch, Bartholomew lead US to top at World Air Games
MIHAI’S PERFORMANCE PROVIDES SILVER LINING FOR THE UAE
The curtain came down on 2015 World Air Games on Saturday with the United States of America clinching the top spot with a total of 12 medals. The US were declared overall world champions after they bagged five gold, three silver and four bronze to finish clear of France, Poland, Germany and Russia in the top five spots. The fourth edition of the WAG was held from December 1-12 with Skydive Dubai as the main drop zone for the activities.
The star of the WAG was the American duo of Nick Batsch and Curtis Bartholomew. Batsch finished off with a personal haul of five medals that included three gold, a silver and a bronze, while Bartholomew ended with three gold and a silver in the Parachuting Canopy Piloting discipline.
The UAE too had their fair share of success led by Romanian Cornelia Mihai, who was representing the UAE. The 31-year-old Mihai was one of the most consistent performers as she picked up one gold and two bronze medals, also in the Parachuting Canopy Piloting.
The final round of medal presentations were carried out on the last day of competition on Saturday. Among the recipients were microlight and gyrocopter pilots, formation parachutists and speed skydivers.
The Microlight category saw Great Britain make a clean sweep of all three positions with David Broom taking gold ahead of teammates Paul Dewhurst and Rees Keene. In the Microlight Gyrocopters, Remco van Ravenzwaaij of The Netherlands topped ahead of Tim Morell representing Qatar and Roy Davis of the US.
The limelight on the final day was, however, hogged by Switzerland’s ace pilot Marco Wiederkehr who went on the set a new world record in the Parachuting Speed category. Wiederkehr’s new record of 533kph saw him taking the gold ahead of countryman Christian Labhart and Michael Lovemore of Great Britain.
Stand-out performances
Another two stand-out performances were witnessed in the Parachuting Canopy Formation 2-way sequential and Parachuting Canopy Formation 4-way Rotation categories. The French duo of Charline Delay and Cindy Collot had wrapped up the gold with one day of the 2-way Canopy Formation competition still remaining leaving Russia for the silver and bronze to Sweden.
Russia, however, got their revenge in the Parachuting Canopy Formation 4-way Rotation by taking the gold medal ahead of France and Belarus.
“Having a successful competition was always a challenge to us, and today we are thrilled with the way we have managed to put together a highlysuccessful competition in all 23 disciplines,” Yousuf Al Hammadi, Competition Director, WAG told Gulf News.
“We cannot say we will stop with this success. There are further challenges ahead and we intend to surprise everyone with even more exciting events here,” he added.