23 Oct 2017

Awards and Closing Ceremony

The Medals presentation and Closing Ceremony were held In the Cinema complex next door to the tunnel not long after the competitors’ meetings were held in the creeping and chilling tents. Our genial Master of Ceremonies, Regan Tetlow welcomed everyone to the Medal ceremony, adding what a fantastic competition it had been and made even more special by the viewing numbers of the live streaming which had been seen by in excess of 260,000 people!

Regan called upon Alain Guérin, the owner of SkyVenture Montreal, to address the audience. Alain asked the junior competitors in the auditorium to stand up as he explained that his adventure into the world of indoor skydiving began before these youngsters were born and these young athletes have shown that his own dream wasn't in vain.

Following the announcement  from the FAI Jury President, Karla Cole, that the 2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship had followed the FAI rules and that all the scores were accurate and official, the actual presentation of the medals began. The Formation Skydiving medals were handed out first by the FS Chief Judge Jurate Janusauskiene and her event judges, with the first presentation being made to 4-Way VFS.

2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
4-Way VFS
World Champion (Gold)France
Silver MedalUSA
Bronze Medal Poland
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
4-Way Junior
World Champion (Gold)France
Silver MedalCanada
Bronze Medal Czech Republic
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
4-Way Female
World ChampionFrance
Silver MedalGreat Britain
Bronze Medal Czech Republic
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
4-Way Open
World ChampionBelgium
Silver MedalFrance
Bronze Medal USA
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
Dynamic 4-Way
World Champion (Gold Medal)France
Silver MedalCzech Rep
Bronze Medal Switzerland
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
Dynamic 2-Way
World Champion (Gold Medal)Poland
Silver MedalSingapore
Bronze MedalFrance
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
Freestyle Junior
World ChampionSingapore
Silver MedalUSA
Bronze Medal Poland
Peter Pan Award in Memory of Ty Baird
Recipient: Junior Freestyle World Champion in Indoor Skydiving
Kyra Poh - Singapore
2nd FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship
Freestyle Open
World ChampionRussia
Silver MedalPoland
Bronze Medal Czech Rep

Unfortunately the recipient of the Silver Medal in the Freestyle Open event was unable to attend the Awards Ceremony, so a fellow compatriot accepted the medal of their behalf.

The formal ceremony was drawing to a close so Regan asked the Meet Director Catherine Carignan, Jury President Karla Cole and FAI Controller Mark Szulmayer to take to the stage for the playing of the FAI Anthem. Finally, the customary handing over of the FAI flag was made by Mark Szulmayer to the representative of the next FAI 1st category event,  namely the 2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Flying to be held in Overton, Nevada, USA, 1 - 9 November 2017. The Jury President then brought the formal proceedings to an end by declaring the Championship officially closed.

Planning and organising a World Championship takes a great deal of work, much of it behind the scenes but undertaken by an abundance of personnel, at which point the slide displayed on the vast cinema screen listed the names of all the Judges, the Jury and FAI Controller:

Next, a vast Thank You! was projected on the screen as SkyVenture's volunteers were applauded by the standing audience, with thanks being extended to the IT Staff of Brian Cole and Michelle Matte-Stotyn from the Canadian Sports Parachuting Association, photographers Yann and X, Tarzan Studio for their remarkable Live stream of almost 15 hours a day and the Olympic Channel for broadening the exposure of bodyflight to a wider audience. 

As Catherine took the podium for one last time before everyone went off to celebrate, she added her personal thanks to commentators Regan Tetlow, Rai Ahmed and Andy Malchiodi and to the competitors, delegation representatives, coaches, families and friends.

In drawing this diary to a close, we extend our hearty Congratulations to the World Champions and Medal Winners alike!