Francisco Javier Reina Lagos kept his head as the Superfinal descended into political chaos. Just how cool can this cat be?
In all the controversy over the Paragliding World Cup Superfinal in Brazil in January you’d be forgiven if you’d forgotten there was actually a competition on. While manufacturers and the PWCA wrangled over the wings the pilots had to get on with the job of flying a serious competition in one of the world’s best venues.
As the politics on the ground turned sour, the skies opened up to provide some classic flying. The 100km milk-run south on the penultimate day was, pilots said, as good as it gets: flying fast and efficiently with friends in perfect skies.
One pilot stood out throughout the whole competition. Twenty-four-year-old Francisco Javier Reina Lagos came first after nine good tasks, beating many of the world’s best to take the top spot. He was on an Enzo 2, and for weeks he had to wait to see if he would actually have the title granted ‘officially’ – not that it seemed to bother him.
A couple of weeks after the comp, but before the results were confirmed, we caught up with him over Skype.
The full interview is inside Cross Country 152 (March / April 2014).
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