Wingsuit fliers from across the world enjoyed their fierce competition on the first day at the 2017 Wings For Love Wingsuit Flying World Cup Jinggu(景古) Station in southwestern China's Yunnan Province on Saturday.
21 athletes from different countries and regions, including China, the United States, France, Italy and Australia, participated in the three-day base jumping contest held in Jinggu Dai and Yi Autonomous County.
The athletes are required to jump from an altitude of 2,000 meters and land as closely as possible to a target on the ground after flying through the 20-meter wide space between two hot air balloons at the height of 300 meters.
"As you could see it's not very easy to come and land in a circle like this. The wind is light and variable, but everybody is having a good time and safely flying windsuits, and the flights pass the balloons, is awesome to watch, so much fun!" said Miles, the chief referee of the Wings For Love Wingsuit Flying World Cup.
The French team presented a shape of heart with smoke, winning spectators' cheers for them.
"We wanted to get between the balloons, separate and go around to make a heart with the smokes, and so to show that we love this country, we love this event, and we are super happy to be there," said Vincent, head of the French team.
The event has made a new attempt in live broadcasting by using helicopter, unmanned aerial vehicles and wearable motion cameras for the first time.
"This is the first time for us to use an exclusive helicopter to record the event in ten years. The gyroscope can be used to shoot the actions of athletes when they descend from the airplane, so that spectators can see them directly in a short distance," said Xu Kai, Chairman of the Organizing Committee.
The Chinese team was the last team to show up in the first day's contest. They passed through the space between the two balloons perfectly and secured the third place in the competition.
