Julian Boulle takes crown in 1st Wingsuit Flying World Championship

The finals of the first Wingsuit Flying World Championship was held in the city of Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province.

Julian Boulle, from South Africa, took the crown with the first wingsuit flying world record of 23.41 seconds, followed by Norwegian flyer Espen Fadnes with 23.55 seconds and British flyer Jame Boole with 23.84 seconds.

The championship, with the participation of 15 world's top wingsuit flyers, was held from Wednesday to Thursday on Tianmen Mountain of the Zhangjiajie forest park.

Competitors were required to jump off a cliff 1,400 meters above sea level on top of the Tianmen Mountain, complete a loop-like flight in the valley and glide across the terminal of the cable way before they open their parachutes and land at the finishing line on the mountain road. The competitor who finishes the whole course in the shortest time is the winner.

Eight competitors, who won the preliminary competition on Wednesday, participated in Thursday's finals. Each of them carried out two rounds of wingsuit flying and the better result would be recorded.

Wingsuit flying is a sport in which a participant flies in the air wearing a special jumpsuit, called "wingsuit," which increases the surface area of the human body to generate a significant lift.

A parachute is added to the end of the wingsuit to provide proper altitude for gliding through the air.

Wingsuit flying is considered the most challenging event in the world's extreme sports. No more than 20 wingsuit flyers worldwide are qualified to participate in the competition.

Reuters