This year I had the opportunity to get back to paragliding competitions after a few years of not competing at a high level, and I was able to have the best results in my competitive career so far, but most importantly to have the most fun in racing paragliders than ever before. Proving to myself that cross-country racing paragliders is as much a mental game as it is a game of skill.

Krusevo gave us amazing conditions for both the Macedonian Nationals and the Paragliding World Cup. I was able to progressively improve my flying with every passing day and made it to 3rd place in the Macedonian Nationals of which I was proud. Places and results are just numbers what I was proud of was that I am still among the top pilots in Macedonia, a small skillful community with a great passion for free flight. 

Right after that, the Paragliding World Cup was set to start. It was one of the most competitive and anticipated events with 120 of the best international pilots. With the good result from the nationals, I went with confidence that I belong there, I was able to fly well and consistently with one top-five finish on the 6th day, a great flight across the flats and mountains that will stay in my memory for a long time. I finished the event 35th overall which is a proud moment in my flying life.

I use numbers and results to summarise my experience and that feels wrong. There is something interesting and strange with competitions, results, and numbers, we use them to compare with one another which also on the other hand means nothing. In my experience, there is a connection between this, the pursuit of results and the results. The less I am focused on the numbers and the more I am focused on the things that matter, like the challenge and the fun of free-flying and the fun of sharing the sky with the people you grew up with and learned how to fly these beautiful machines, the more results tend to improve. Again they mean nothing except a signal that I did something better this time.

Videos from the event:
https://youtu.be/7GPoKtJc8xM
https://youtu.be/CbzoRJY5fXc
https://youtu.be/1VQOpgz5Y0I
https://youtu.be/4nin_PjENP4