Dubai: Three years ago, Cornelia Mihai had to take an important call within a short time. When she registered herself at the Dubai International Parachuting Championship (DIPC), she was given the choice of representing the UAE in lieu of her native Romania.
Mihai went with the UAE and as things panned out, she didn’t regret it for once. On Sunday night, as one of the rare women pilots in the Skydiving disciplines, Mihai stood on the podium on three occasions — a gold and a couple of bronze medals hanging around her neck for her country of choice: the UAE.
It had been a long three years of hard work with a few international competitions thrown in from time to time. On Sunday, Mihai had every reason to be proud of what she had achieved since she took to the skies in 2002. “It’s like a dream for me at the moment. I knew I had a 50 per cent chance for a medal perhaps, but to get one gold and two bronze medals is so much part of a dream,” Mihai told Gulf News proudly displaying her medals.
“I realise the importance of an event like this. These are the World Air Games (WAG) with only the best from around the globe and to be on the winners’ podium on three occasions is so much part of something that I have dreamt of over the years,” she added.
After starting in the sport in 2002 back home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Mihai acquired a tandem instructor’s licence. After her 2011 debut in Dubai at the third edition of the DIPC, she got an offer to train young Emiratis based at Skydive Dubai. The following year, she was faced with her biggest challenge — compete for her country of birth or choose the UAE.
Mihai made her move permanent and since then, she has been a regular feature with the Skydive branding. Sunday was a definitive highlight for the 31-year-old as she ended first in the Canopy Piloting (CP) Distance while taking third in CP Speed and in the overall Combined category. “Canopy Piloting has been like a bug that has bitten me. It has become a part of my life. I am eating, breathing and living Canopy Piloting. This sport runs so much parallel to my life as it is a never-ending process of learning new aspects all the time,” she related.
Mihai does make the occasional trip home to see her parents and her sister Raluca, who live some 60 kms from Bucharest. “Dubai is home for me now. I will always strive to give off my best to the UAE as this country has given me so much in such a short time. The FAI World Championships in August 2016 and the World Cup in Russia are next on my radar. My goal is to continue winning and making everyone proud of my achievements,” Mihai said.
