Fail to launch: America鈥檚 Challenge Gas Balloon Race on hold for this year's Balloon Fiesta
Published
Modified
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta attendees will notice something big missing at this year鈥檚 event: the America鈥檚 Challenge Gas Balloon Race won鈥檛 be taking place.
鈥淒ue to timing of the FAI World Long Distance Gas Balloon Championship 67th Coupe A茅ronautique Gordon Bennett in M眉nster, Germany, the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta鈥檚 America鈥檚 Challenge Gas Balloon Race will not occur as a part of the 2024 event,鈥� said Tom Garrity, media relations director for the nine-day Balloon Fiesta, which starts Saturday.
The 2024 Gordon Bennett Cup launched in mid-September, which didn鈥檛 provide participants enough time to transport their balloons and equipment to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 for the America鈥檚 Challenge.
鈥淕iven that the fact that almost all of the teams that compete are in Europe at the Gordon Bennett, they just couldn鈥檛 get enough people to try to do both races,鈥� said Kim Vesely, navigator for America鈥檚 Challenge and Balloon Fiesta volunteer.
Using lighter-than-air gases, such as hydrogen or helium, to lift the balloons, the America鈥檚 Challenge is one of two distance races for such balloons in the world, the other being the Gordon Bennett.
鈥淕ordon Bennett is the world鈥檚 oldest air race,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he first Gordon Bennett was held in 1906 and it was founded by a newspaperman by the name of James Gordon Bennett Jr. He founded races in a lot of emerging sports.鈥�
鈥淭he Gordon Bennett, by tradition, is held in the country of the winners from two years before,鈥� Vesely said. 鈥淚n other words, the country with the team that wins the race has the honor of hosting the race two years later.鈥�
Vesely said there are exceptions, including last year when the host nation decided it could not host the race and it was put out to bid and held in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.
The America鈥檚 Challenge Gas Balloon Race will return to the Balloon Fiesta in 2025.
