08 Jul 2024

"One big family" at the CISM World Military Parachuting Championships

Despite the tough competition, a spirit of friendship is woven into the fabric of the CISM World Military Parachuting Championships. Now on his eighth CISM championships, Austria's Sebastian Graser shares his love of the sport, saying in an interview from Solznok, Hungary, "What I love about parachuting, is that it is like one big family with other nations, we are all friends."

Video from the Hungarian Defence Force

Friendship through sport

Alongside the host nation, Hungary, 27 other nations are present at the international event. And as official recognition of the spirit of friendship, as upheld under the International Military Sports Council (CISM)'s motto ‘Friendship through Sport’, on Monday 8th July, there is a traditional gift exchange tradition, where teams gather to give commemorative gifts and spend a convival moment together.

This tradition follows a weekend of competition in which spectators, families and children came to watch the parachutists compete. The Accuracy Landing provides dramatic scenes for onlookers, although by midday on Sunday, the landing area became too hot and thermic, so focus changed to the Style and Formation events at two parallel dropzones, and these rounds have been progressing well.

46th CISM World Military Parachuting Championship 2024
A Korean skydiver focuses on the landing spot

REcent developments

Among the male formation teams, the USA maintains a narrow margin now, ahead of the Belgians, with Qatar not far behind, but there are still two rounds to go. In the female formation teams category, the Republic of Korea are comfortably ahead of China, with just round one left to complete.

In the lead in overall CISM teams, China are ahead of the Republic of Korea in the female teams, with Brazil and Italy tied in third place. With the male teams, the Czech Republic are maintaining a strong lead, with Germany lagging behind in second but the Republic of Korea hoping to topple them from this spot before the the championships finish.

Live judging

ISC President Alberto Martin Paracuellos is attending the Championships and has been impressed by the set up for spectators:

"The organisers have provided a big screen which is constantly showing the live judging. The Accuracy Airshots system and the Intime audience systems are familiar in skydiving, but the Freefall Style-Score system is new. It is an extraordinary innovation showing the live judging with high quality colour ground-to-air images."

46th CISM World Military Parachuting Championship 2024
Watching the live scoring on Turkey's formation jump