After a nail biting suspense during the whole season, Luke De Weert (NED) was crowned the 2023 Acro World Tour Champion beating 4 times world tour champion Théo de Blic by only 0,316 points making it one the tightest margin in the history of the sport.
The tightest and most intense battle we have ever seen in the Acro World Tour.
Both pilots were neck and neck the whole season, fighting for every little point and pushing their limits during each event to try and create a gap. Arriving in Oludeniz the battle was already raging with Luke ahead by 1,2 points out of over 180, after run 2 Théo had climbed first by 0,007 points only, and coming into the final run it was Luke who was ahead again by 1,2 points. In the end only 0,316 points separated both athletes over 280 points making it one of the most exciting finals in the history of the sport. And Luke De Weert was crowned the 2023 Acro World Tour Champion for the first time in his young career, being the very first athlete from Netherlands to win that title. The excitement wasn’t only for the first 2 of the AWT as the last spot of the podium was also a very hard fought battle between Axel Coste (FRA), Egor Hardcore and Bicho Carrera (CZ). Axel arrived under threat of Egor Hardcore but in the end the biggest threat to his podium position came from Bicho Carrera who flew his best comp of the season, yet it was not enough to beat the frenchman who ended up third of the 2023 AWT after his second place in 2022.
All or nothing.
It all came down to the very last run on the very last day of the season. Both athletes were really close with Luke having a slight point advantage over Théo. In the end both athletes went with very different strategies, Luke decided to put down a safer but clean run in order to maximise his points while Théo went for a higher bonus run to try to win the day, but in the end it was the Dutchman who came up on top managing to maintain enough point to grab the title of a lifetime. In the end after 17 runs flown this was without doubt the most exciting and interesting season ever.
The Super Final has been the biggest competition of the season.
The long awaited super final promised to be an event for the history books and it delivered, with 5 runs and almost all the tricks in the trick list flown during the event this was one of the highest level competition we have seen. The pilots executing runs with up to 13 manoeuvres, often flown flawlessly, had to use all their skills in order to stay clean. In the end even if Théo de Blic didn’t manage to grab the World Acro Tour Title he managed to win the event grabbing his 3rd win of the season. While Luke De Weert grabbed second but won the day. Meanwhile 2022 Acro World Tour Champion Bicho Carrera finally managed to get the long awaited podium that had been eluding him all year.
Florian Landreau and Jose Zuluaga will be pros in 2024
It was almost certain already after the very first event of the season but Florian Landreau (FRA) didn’t faltered and won the 2024 Acro World Qualifier earning himself a spot among the pros in 2024. Jose Zuluaga (COL) had to fight it out against Hugo Lami (FRA) but managed to hold on to second place in the general ranking and will climb up to the AWT together with Florian while Hugo finishing 3rd of the AWQ for his rookie season will be a top contender for the 2024 AWQ title!
Artemy Ivchenko destroys the competition in the AWQ SuperFinal
Artemy Ivchenko was competing for the first time in the AWQ during this year’s superfinal and even though he was a rookie at this level he showed incredible runs, at an Acro World Tour level, to win the event begging the question, what would have happened had he done the whole season? He even managed to stop the winning streak of 2023 AWQ champion Florian Landreau. The competition was fierce and a lot of Turkish Pilots showed incredible skills proving that Turkey has a bright future in the Acro Paragliding Scene.
Gabi Fonck dominated the female category!
Gabi Fonck proved to the world that she was the best female athlete in the world at the moment, winning every single event of the female AWT and becoming the 2023 Female Acro World Tour Champion. In addition to that Gabi also managed to be in the top 10 of every AWQ she took part in that season ending up at an impressive 7th place in the AWQ ranking. Meanwhile it was one of the most successful season in terms of female athletes in the history of Acro Paragliding.
Team Back2Back is the new Synchro World Tour Champion!
Difficult weather prevented the athlete to fly more than one run during that event, Team Airbound making their first Synchro World Tour appearance won that day and therefore the event but it’s Team Back2Back reuniting rivals and friends Luke and Théo that were crown the 2023 Synchro World Tour Champion on their very first season together. Interestingly it is the 2nd Synchro World Tour Champion title for both of them as they won it with different partners in the past. U-Turn Acro Team ended up 2nd of the season while Team Gayrmany finished 3rd.
Ali Yesil is Turkish Champion for the second time in a row!
Ali was crowned Turkish Champion in 2022 and didn’t seem ready to relinquish his title even though 19 year old Yunus Emre Gültekı̇ , one of Turkey’s most promising prospect, put a lot of pressure on him. Despite that Ali managed to keep his title while Yunus came up second. But Yunus managed to impress the scene performing the Full Twisted Flat stall to Infinity being the only Qualifier pilots this season to put it down. Yet it was Ali who won the day managing to be consistent and to fly a high variety of tricks. Berkay Nal who is also one of Turkish greatest pilots deserved his 3rd place on the podium.
We already can’t wait for the 2024 season that promised to be one of the best ever!
