French team strikes gold!
The French team of 10 competitors wins first place at the 3th Paramotor Slalom World Championships held from 27 October to 4 November at the lake site of Fayoum in Egypt.
Supervised by Pascal Vallée (Paramotor Team Leader), Mohamed Azzouni (DTN Project Officer), and Didier Eymin (Head of the Paramotor Committee), the team stayed throughout the week at the competition venue, Lake Bayoum, to prepare for the competition programme. The French selection had prepared meticulously for these championships very early this summer in Spain, working on the slalom-specific events and the reference courses.
For this 2018 edition, 14 nations were represented, bringing together the best pilots of the discipline. The competition began on Monday 29 October in front of many Egyptian dignitaries, including the minister of aviation, and in the presence of the president of the CIMA, Wolfgang Lintl. The press, present in large numbers throughout the event, covered the competition daily with live results and various interviews. The French team, much in demand and determined, looked proud in its new kit.
Despite a few ditchings and sometimes very strong wind, the flights followed one another at a steady pace. The many accidental water landings were spectacular and harmless, which shows that well-supervised slalom has a bright future. The events, as spectacular as ever, were dominated from the start by the French team. A fine team spirit allowed the pilots to stay at the top of the provisional rankings throughout the competition, and the group finally won the title of World Champion in Slalom.
At the end of the prize-giving ceremony, the French team thus confirmed once again its position as leader and took medals in all the individual categories:
- Marie Mateos won the gold medal in the Women's category with ease and finished 6th in PF1 against the world's best male pilots.
- Aurélia Hallé confirmed her second place among the women.
- Boris Tysebaert confirmed his status as trike leader with a fine 3th place in the PL1 category.
- Alexandre Mateos, determined and talented, took his first title of Slalom world champion in foot launch (PF1), adding to his already impressive record (already Classic Class world champion).
- Nicolas Aubert, making strong progress, reached 2th place in the same category.
The French team members Jérémy Penone, Jean Emile Oulha, Gaëtan Magnan, Yann Leudière and Cyril Planton, facing fierce competition, delivered very fine performances, placing in the world's top 10 and helping to sweep the nations' gold medal.
FFPLUM congratulates the whole team and its coaching staff!
