Summary
- 01
The 2nd FAI Pan-American Paragliding Accuracy Championships ran in Arica from 10 to 19 July 2026 with 39 pilots from eight countries, 34 of them eligible for continental titles.
- 02
After 12 rounds, Argentina's Andrés Racca won on 35 cm; Diego Lopez and Rafael Carvallo tied on 38 cm before Lopez took silver in a fly-off.
- 03
Elena Javiera Espinoza Sepulveda won women, Rafael Carvallo won juniors and Chile finished first in the team standings.
The final round moved the overall title to Racca
The continental winner remained undecided until round 12 at the 2nd FAI Pan-American Paragliding Accuracy Championships in Arica, Chile. The FAI's official report says the overnight leader scored 31 cm in the last round and fell out of the medals. Andrés Racca of Argentina capitalised on the change to secure the Pan-American overall title with a cumulative score of 35 cm.
Second place also required more than the aggregate table. Colombia's Diego Lopez and Chile's Rafael Carvallo both completed the championship on 38 cm, forcing a fly-off in which Lopez took silver and Carvallo bronze. Accuracy scores accumulate the measured distance from the centre, with lower totals better, so the three-centimetre winning margin and the tie-break show how one final landing could reorder the podium.
Only 34 of the 39-pilot field contested the continental medals
CIVLComps records the Category 1 event in Arica from 10 to 19 July 2026. FAI counted 39 pilots from eight countries, of whom 34 were eligible for Pan-American titles. That distinction matters because invited pilots could appear in the open result without automatically entering the continental medal classification.
China's Yang Chen competed as a guest and recorded an aggregate 3 cm across 12 rounds, equalling his own FAI world record of five consecutive 0 cm landings. That exceptional open performance did not alter the continental winner. Racca's 35 cm was the championship score among eligible Pan-American competitors, and the guest result should not be folded into the medal table.
Chile collected the women's, junior and team titles
The host nation topped three classifications. Elena Javiera Espinoza Sepulveda landed at 1 cm in the final women's round against 2 cm for Nathalia Pinzon Gomez and won the category by a single centimetre overall; Jeroma Sexton took bronze. Rafael Carvallo, also third in the overall contest, won juniors ahead of Sergio Gabriel Guillen Rivera and Elena Javiera Espinoza Sepulveda.
Chile also headed the team result, with Colombia second and the FAI-designated Bolivian team third. The official list records Hernan Anibal Espinoza Calderon as Masters champion in the category for pilots aged 55 and over. Read together, the individual, age-group and team outcomes show that the host result extended beyond one standout landing or one pilot.
One record claim still has a formal step outstanding
The podiums and championship scores are confirmed by the FAI report and CIVLComps event record, but not every notable sequence is yet a ratified record. FAI says Guatemala's William Elias completed six rounds at 5 cm or less and may be eligible for a claim, subject to submission and approval of documentation by his national air-sport body. The next watch is the formal record register, not an early declaration; equipment-performance claims likewise sit outside what these results establish.