One of the most spectacular events in the FAI World Air Games finished on Friday 4 December. Canopy Piloting, or Swooping, is a fast-paced, beautiful discipline that combines nerves of steel with the finesse and grace of a gymnast.

The day saw a 1,2 win for the USA when Curt Bartholemew battled it out with teammate Nick Batsch for the lead in Canopy Piloting (Classical). Bartholomew seized the day and seized the win, while Nick Batsch took silver and the UAE’s Cornelia Mihai took bronze.

“It was one of the tightest in a while, it came down to the last jump,” said Bartholomew. “Conditions are beautiful. It made for good, tight competition.”

He added: “It means everything. This is my fifth world title. I was pushing to get this one before I turned 30 because this is the last recognised FAI world title I haven’t won yet.”

Congratulations to Curt, and all the competitors for a brilliant competition.

The discipline is called Combined because it consists of three events: accuracy, distance and speed.

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