below Paragliders take
off into the airtoP right Indonesian
jet ski champion Aero
Aswar, an ambassador
for the 2018 Asiad,
races at a competition
in Pattaya, ThailandbottoM right
Japanese climber Sachi
Amma competes in a
climbing eventOpinions differ on who invented paragliding:
American aeronautical engineer David Barish,
who developed the first paragliding device in
the 1960s using advanced aerofoil technology,
or the American military, who were said to
have launched the first mass parachute landing
exercises. Barish’s contraption, called the
Sailwing, was launched off grassy slopes, and
he envisioned them being the star of a new
sport at ski resorts, “slope soaring” – but the
idea never took off.
Nevertheless, it was in 1978 that the sport
gained popularity, after a group of three
Frenchmen – testing out alternative methods
to train for aircraft spot landings – used a
modified parachute to jump off a mountain
in the Alps and glide to a football field 1,000
metres below.
Today, modern paragliders are lightweight,
resembling a winged parachute, and
competitors fly solo along a course called
a task, which they aim to complete in the
shortest time possible. Pilots must navigate
weather, land features, and turning points from
a harness underneath the paraglider wings.
PHOTO © SOLOVIOVA LIUDMYLA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Three new extreme sports have found their way into this
year’s Asiad lineup, and all of them take place outside the
stadium. We take a look at what to expect from these new
events, each happening on their own special course
Course Competition
EXTREME SPORTSPARAGLIDING
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