On Saturday 16 May 2026, the 40th FAI World Gliding Championships were formally opened at Rudniki airfield near Częstochowa in southern Poland. The ceremony brought together competitors, team captains, officials, and supporters on the airfield that will serve as the contest base until the closing ceremony and prize giving on 30 May.
Rudniki airfield — ICAO code EPRU — sits on flat, cultivated farmland approximately 10 kilometres northeast of Częstochowa city, at an elevation of 262 metres above sea level. The field offers three runways: a 1,800-metre concrete strip and two grass alternatives. That combination gives the organisers practical flexibility when sequencing large grids of gliders onto tow. The airfield is uncontrolled and has no airspace restrictions overhead, which simplifies operations considerably at a competition where up to 120 gliders may be flying. The surrounding flat farmland is also a practical asset for retrieval crews when gliders land out.
Competition Director for the championships is Anna Messyasz. The Sporting Director and Task Setter is Jan Jawornik, who has a long history of involvement in championship organisation in Poland. The Jury President is Christof Geissler, Chief Steward Robin van Maarschalkerweerd, and Steward Börje Eriksson. Chief Scorer is Wojciech Ścigała. The presence of experienced international officials alongside the Polish organising team reflects the level of international cooperation that world championship gliding depends on.
The Defending Champions
When the championship grid assembles for contest day one on 17 May, the defending individual champions from Uvalde, Texas in 2024 will be among the pilots watching the task boards. Stefan Langer of Germany won the 18 Metre class at the 38th championships, with Simon Schröder second and France's Christophe Abadie third. In the 20 Metre Multi-seat class, Arnold and Striedieck took first place ahead of the Polish pairing of Rubaj and Matkowski, with Lutz and Janowitsch third. Felipe Levin won the Open class, with Michael Sommer second and Laurent Aboulin third. Germany won the team cup ahead of France and Austria.
Levin's name also appeared at the top of the practice scoreboard here at Rudniki on 14 May, the second official practice day, covering the Open class task at 90.48 kph. In the 18 Metre practice, Thies Bruins led at 108.75 kph, with Mario Kiessling at 105.77 kph and Stanisław Biela at 100.41 kph. Jones and Coppin topped the 20 Metre Multi-seat practice at 95.72 kph.
The Programme
The mandatory safety briefing was held on the morning of 16 May at 10:00, ahead of the opening ceremony that evening. The contest flying window runs from 17 to 29 May, with the closing ceremony and prize giving on 30 May. The competition operates within a 13-day flying window, which at a May site in southern Poland gives reasonable confidence of accumulating a useful number of scored tasks, though the task-setting team will be managing the full range of central European spring weather patterns.
