The European Gliding Championships is a gliding competition held every two years.
Gliding is a competitive sport and was even a demonstration sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics. It was due to become an official Olympic sport in the Helsinki Games in 1940. However, since the war, gliding has not featured in the Olympics. For gliding, international competition has been provided by the World Gliding Championships since 1938 and also by the European Gliding Championships since 1982.
The increased number of classes of glider means that it is no longer possible for all the classes to compete at the same location. The European Glider Aerobatic Championships were added in 1992. They are also held every two years.[1]
The FAI granted World Championship status to international women's contests in 2001. The 1st World Gliding Championships were held in Pociūnai (Lithuania). However, this decision was made rather late so that it was essentially a European contest.[7] For the results of this and the following women's contests refer to Women's World Gliding Championships.
1st European Junior Gliding Championships in Falköping (Sweden), 1991
Standard Class Winner: Tomasz Rubaj (Poland), glider: SZD 55
Club Class Winner: Flemming L. Schneider (Denkmark),
2nd European Junior Gliding Championships in La Roche-sur-Yon (France), 1993
Standard Class Winner: Lars Ternholt (Denmark),
Club Class winner: Yann Mignot (France), glider: Pégase C101
3rd European Junior Gliding Championships in Leszno (Poland), 1995[8]
Standard Class Winner: Guido Achleitner (Germany),
Club Class Winner: Frank Hahn (Germany),
4th European Junior Gliding Championships in Musbach (Germany), 1997[9]
Standard Class Winner: Mario Kiessling (Germany),
Club Class Winner: Michael Sommer (Germany)
The contests were replaced by the Junior World Gliding Championships in 1999. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the calendar was revised to shift the World and European Gliding Championships by one year, additionally reintroducing the European Junior Gliding Championships in 2021.
5th European Junior Gliding Championships in Pociūnai (Lithuania), 2021
Standard Class Winner: Simon Briel (Germany),
Club Class Winner: Finn Sleigh (United Kingdom),
6th European Junior Gliding Championships in Arnborg (Denmark), 30 July – 11 August 2023[10]
European Glider Aerobatic Championships are held every two years, so that they alternate with World Glider Aerobatic Championships which are held every two years since 1985.[12] These contests are flown in the unlimited category, only. In 2006, the first European Advanced Glider Aerobatic Championships was held in Bad Frankenhausen in conjunction with the German Glider Championships in the unlimited and advanced category.[13] The second European Advanced Glider Aerobatic Championships were held in conjunction with the 2008 German Glider Aerobatic Championships in Rothenburg–Görlitz (26 July 2008 – 3 August 2008).[14]
1st European Glider Aerobatic Championships
2nd European Glider Aerobatic Championships, Rieti (Italy) 1994[15]
3rd FAI European Glider Aerobatic Championships, Pér (Hungary), 27 June 1996 – 6 July 1996[16]
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