Dubai: Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, attended key stages of the race during the Dubai Jet Suit Championship, which was held at Dubai Harbour on Wednesday.
Sheikh Hamdan met with champion Emirati air racer Ahmed Al Shehhi and Richard Browning, Founder and CEO of Gravity Industries, before the start of the competition, and praised all the participants for taking part in the novel competition, the first of its kind in the world, for having made history.
The stirring contest saw the British trio of Issa Calvon, Paul Jones and Freddie Hay making a sweep of the top three spots.
Daredevil manoeuvres
Calvon won the title following the daredevil manoeuvres of the eight contestants that amazed the thousands of fans who had gathered alongside the visitors to the Dubai International Yacht Show, besides millions of viewers on international television networks following the awesome spectacle of competitors zooming through the air using specially designed suits propelled by jet engines aligned on the hands and backs of the contestants.
The contestants represented various countries, including the UAE’s Al Shehhi, who had undergone several weeks of specialised training in Great Britain to meet stringent eligibility criteria set for those participating in the competition.
The eight participants were divided into two groups for the preliminary rounds. Each contestant had to manoeuvre through 12 traffic points placed along a 700-metre long race course. The best two from each group made it to the semi-finals. The champion was declared following a breathtaking final matchup.
The winners were crowned by Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council; and Nasser Jamal, representative of Imtiaz Real Estate Development Company, one of the sponsors of the tournament, in the presence of Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of DSC.
Hareb congratulated the winners, noting that the innovative championship had further enhanced Dubai’s position on the global sporting scene while creating history. He also congratulated Al Shehhi, who etched his name in the record books as the first Emirati and Arab sportsperson to achieve the unique feat of participating in the contest that demands physical strength, supreme aerial agility, and tremendous adeptness with cutting-edge technology.
