The past few days have been very busy for Wojciech Bogdal. The athlete from Poland won the first gold medal for the host country for The World Games 2017. The 22-year-old student became a World Games Champion at the Wroclaw Airfield after an exciting competition in the Paramotor discipline.
Right after the award ceremony, he has received lots of congratulations and of course the media have been constantly asking him for interviews and quotes. Even though he has a tight schedule, including being awarded IWGA Athlete of the Day this evening (7:45 pm) on the plaza, he took some time out for the IWGA Press conference this morning.
Of course Wojciech Bogdal was proud to win the medal for his country. But he won it also for his sport. The publicity he received as the first gold medalist for Poland shall help to promote Air Sports in general and Paramotoring especially. “My friends told me the news was everywhere in our media. My cellphone gave up after I received so many calls and text messages. For my sport this is important. It’s not only about competing in front of so many spectators at the airfield but also in front of the media in Poland. Normally, we are not recognized in this way. But today we are in the spotlight and this supports our whole Air Sports community.”
Being the best ambassador of an intriguing sport gives the stamina to stand the stress. Press conference with the Polish media at 10:00, another one with international media at 11:30 etc. But this dedication pays off: people show interest! IWGA President José Perurena, who also took part in the press conference, raved about Air Sports: “I am little jealous. I love your sport but it seems that I am too old to practice it. It is a fantastic sport.”
At the IWGA press conference hosted by IWGA Communications Director Anna Jacobson, José Perurena also took the opportunity to thank the volunteers for having done a great job after the thunderstorm on Sunday. The local organizers managed the situation, and only a few of the Boules Sports events had to be postponed to Monday. José Perurena said: “The volunteers worked very, very hard to fix everything on time. I want to congratulate the volunteers for making this happen.”
