Asian Games 2018: All you need to know about Paragliding

The 2018 Asian Games will be the one of its kind as it will be the first time that this multi-sports extravaganza is being split between two locations: the Indonesian capital, Jakarta and the South Sumatran capital, Palembang.

In a game of many ‘firsts’, the headlines have been snatched by Paragliding, which will be making its debut in Asiad for the first time since 1951. For the first time ever, the paragliding pilots will be among the thousands of athletes competing, as air sports takes its place alongside more than 40 other genres of sports involved in this action-packed, pan-Asian extravaganza.

It should naturally strike the audience why Paragliding has been included all of a sudden, in spite of not being the most popular Asian Air-sport?

A brief history and a discussion of technicalities involved in this beautiful recreational game might divulge the underlying reason of its inclusion in 2018 Asian Games.

Paragliding -- Glide through the nature of it

It is better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air, rather than in the air, wishing you were on the ground!

From the birth of the mankind, human beings have always had a sub-conscious feeling of envy towards the birds. The only reason of that feeling is the absence of wings that human beings could never possess.

So, much before Red Bull started giving wings to the homo sapiens, few of its daring individuals started experimenting and soon the concept of parachute evolved. And, once the mankind got a whiff of the feeling of flying in the air, there was never any doubt that they will fly one day, and fly high!

Paragliding involves flying light, non-motorised equipment with an oval wing, where the air currents help the para-glider to gain height. The person who glides through the air is called the pilot, who is generally buckled to a harness. Believe it or not, you can sit cosier than how you sit in your living room!

Mastering the sport of paragliding requires clear concepts and knowledge about student of meteorology, physics and geography, which gives this sport a holistic approach. Besides motor skills and understanding the physics of flight, knowledge of wind flow and the formation of clouds are also required.

The beauty about paragliding is that, it is relatively simple for a change. You have a non-motorized inflatable wing, which you launch manually. The equipment is easy to transport, easy to launch, and easy to land -- n short, the equipment can take you places, literally. Paragliders have been flown off almost every major peak in the United States and Europe. Even the majestic Everest has seen the successful launch of a paraglider or two.

It is a sport where you can truly soar like a bird in peace and tranquility.

Paragliding -- A brisk journey through its history

Paragliding first dates back to 1952. More of an adventure sports and recreational to few, this sport can be traced back to the activities of the French parachute inventor, Pierre Lemoigne; who tow-launched his advanced round-parachute canopies in the 1950s.

The ram-air-inflated cell structure originated in the early 1960s by a Canadian-born American inventor, Domina Jalbert with proper kite and parachute designs, which started the wheel of evolution. From the late 1960s, interest in the gliding ability of parachutes started to grow slowly. The paraglider continued to develop in the United States and in Alpine areas of France and Switzerland, where it finally evolved into a full shape.

Some mountain climbers saw paragliding as an alternative to rappelling down after an ascent, while other enthusiasts appreciated its potential as a sport in its own right.

As soon as it was realized that the wing did not have to resist the opening shock to which jump parachute canopies are subjected generally, thinner lines and lighter construction were brought to effect. It reduced drag, instead the glide capability increased. Since the 1980s, the entire equipment and tactics have continually been evolved and improved on an extensive level with Hong Kong being extremely active in this pursuit of interest.

The first ever Paragliding World Competition was held in 1987, although it was unofficial. Two years later, in 1989, the first officially sanctioned FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) World Tournament was held in Kossen, Austria. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Paragliding Championships have been held every other year since then. England hosted the first World Paragliding Accuracy Landing Championship in 2000.

The Paragliding World Cup (or PWC for short) is a cross country flying competition for paraglider pilots, organized by the PWCA, based in France. Each and every year, the Paragliding World Cup Tour visits 5-6 different locations worldwide. Pilots carry a GPS receiver to record their flight track, which, afterwards, is used to verify that they correctly followed the course and determine timings.

Today, paragliding competitions takes place at different levels ranging from club to national and international.

2018 Asian Games will have Paragliding in it for the first time ever

Paragliding in 2018 Asian Games

This sport is making its debut in this year's Asian Games. Both men's and women's individual and team events will be staged in accuracy competitions, apart from the battle of supremacy in the cross-country contest. Thus 6 gold medals are up for grabs in this particular sport.

Accuracy event in paragliding is a test of precision in landing, which is one of the most popular form of the game. The landing area is divided into concentric circles with the dead centre or the bull's eye being only two centimetres in diameter. Circles are marked out at 0.5 meters, 2.5 meters and five meters around the landing.

There is an electronic pressure sensitive landing pad which registers the first point of contact with the competitor's foot as it makes contact. Pilots are scored on the distance in centimetres between their landing point and the bull's eye or the dead centre.

Unlike other sports, here the pilots aim to attain the lowest score, trying to land as close as possible to the dead centre. A pilot is marked zero, the perfect score, when he lands on the dead centre.

In this edition of the Asian Games, each contestant will undertake 12 rounds, which will decide the winners in the individual category. In the men's team events, aggregate scores of five of the participants from the same country will be considered for deciding winners; while in the women's team event, scores of any three contestants from the same country will be considered.

Cross country is the most popular paragliding event. This event will span over five days and every day, a competitor will have to a race on a course, with the exact route being decided before the commencement of the race by the race director.

In paragliding, a route is called a task and the basic aim of the contest is to complete the task and finish at the goal (finish line) in the fastest possible time. In the race to goal event, all the competitors start at the same time and the pilot who crosses the finish line in the fastest time gains most points.

In elapsed time speed races, the competitors do not start together but their timings from the start to the finish are considered. All paragliders are connected to GPS and their flights are tracked to judge whether they have completed the entire task.

Both events will be held at the Gunung Mas Puncak amusement park in Bogor in West Java, close to Jakarta.

No matter how beautiful it looks, paragliding has a tremendous risk factor in it. Several instances of mishaps have been reported till date, but the pilots and the association never back down to brand it as a dangerous sport. Just a few days back, a Hong Kong paraglider was found dead, 5 days after he went missing, as he swept off the course and lost all communication.

At a Hong Kong flag presentation for the Games held at New Town Plaza in Sha Tin during the last weekend, paragliding athletes Chiu Ho-nam and Eric Yam Chi-wai, said it was “just like any other outdoor sport” and that “risk management was important”.

Needless to say, it's not just another outdoor sport, it's one of its kind!