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World Gliding Championships
The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competition held roughly every two years by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are always held in the summer in either the Southern Hemisphere or Northern Hemisphere.
Gliding had been a demonstration sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics and was due to become an official Olympic sport in the Helsinki Games in 1940. However, since the Second World War, gliding has not featured in the Olympics, and so the World Championships are the highest level in the sport. There are now contests for six classes of glider and so in recent years the Championships have been divided between two locations. The women's, junior, grand prix and aerobatic events are also held separately.
Each of the following entries give the year and location of the contest followed by the winner of each class, nationality and the glider used.
A list of future events is available here
The FAI Sailplane Grand Prix (SGP) (Gliding Grand Prix) is a series of international gliding competitions created by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) to make the sport of soaring more accessible and exciting for the public. Unlike traditional gliding championships, which often involve staggered starts, complex scoring, and long tasks that are difficult for spectators to follow, the SGP format features a simultaneous start, clearly defined racing rules, and a “first across the finish line wins” principle. This produces fast-paced, head-to-head racing that is easier to understand and more dramatic to watch.
Each Grand Prix race typically covers 200–300 kilometres, lasts two to three hours, and is contested by up to 20 pilots flying high-performance sailplanes. Points are awarded to the leading finishers on each racing day, with the overall winner crowned at the end of the series. Through innovations such as real-time GPS tracking, livestreamed video, and on-board pilot commentary, the SGP has become one of the most spectator-friendly formats in competitive gliding.
Since its launch in 2005, there have been 12 SGP series, with the 13th series scheduled to begin in 2026. Each series normally features around ten Qualifying SGP events held at soaring sites across the globe. The top two pilots from each qualifying event advance to the World Final, where a field of 20 of the world’s best sailplane pilots compete head-to-head for the coveted title of FAI Sailplane Grand Prix World Champion.
The Women's World Gliding Championships (WWGC) is a women-only gliding competition. From 1979 to 1999 women's gliding competitions were held as International European Women's Gliding Championships.
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World Gliding Championships AI simulator
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World Gliding Championships
The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competition held roughly every two years by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are always held in the summer in either the Southern Hemisphere or Northern Hemisphere.
Gliding had been a demonstration sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics and was due to become an official Olympic sport in the Helsinki Games in 1940. However, since the Second World War, gliding has not featured in the Olympics, and so the World Championships are the highest level in the sport. There are now contests for six classes of glider and so in recent years the Championships have been divided between two locations. The women's, junior, grand prix and aerobatic events are also held separately.
Each of the following entries give the year and location of the contest followed by the winner of each class, nationality and the glider used.
A list of future events is available here
The FAI Sailplane Grand Prix (SGP) (Gliding Grand Prix) is a series of international gliding competitions created by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) to make the sport of soaring more accessible and exciting for the public. Unlike traditional gliding championships, which often involve staggered starts, complex scoring, and long tasks that are difficult for spectators to follow, the SGP format features a simultaneous start, clearly defined racing rules, and a “first across the finish line wins” principle. This produces fast-paced, head-to-head racing that is easier to understand and more dramatic to watch.
Each Grand Prix race typically covers 200–300 kilometres, lasts two to three hours, and is contested by up to 20 pilots flying high-performance sailplanes. Points are awarded to the leading finishers on each racing day, with the overall winner crowned at the end of the series. Through innovations such as real-time GPS tracking, livestreamed video, and on-board pilot commentary, the SGP has become one of the most spectator-friendly formats in competitive gliding.
Since its launch in 2005, there have been 12 SGP series, with the 13th series scheduled to begin in 2026. Each series normally features around ten Qualifying SGP events held at soaring sites across the globe. The top two pilots from each qualifying event advance to the World Final, where a field of 20 of the world’s best sailplane pilots compete head-to-head for the coveted title of FAI Sailplane Grand Prix World Champion.
The Women's World Gliding Championships (WWGC) is a women-only gliding competition. From 1979 to 1999 women's gliding competitions were held as International European Women's Gliding Championships.