Ölüdeniz, Turkey, late September 2023. The Acro World Tour Superfinal is coming to an end. The clouds come in around the Babadağ, the heralds of bad weather, seeing the top acro pilots of the world scurrying about nervously. Their take-off for the last run of the season will now be at only 1200 m instead of 1700 m, giving them less height to perform tricks. Their plans need to be adapted, shuffled, redesigned. It's a strategic puzzle to get the best scoring tricks in a flowing choreography to score the highest points from the jury down on the beach.
Just when only Luke de Weert, then in second place, and Théo de Blic are still waiting on launch, the sun peeks beneath the clouds lurking just above takeoff. While the sky turns a golden yellow, Luke gets ready while Théo waits for his turn and the two friends, teammates and rivals wish each other luck. "May the best win."

Read the full article in Cross Country magazine #246, December 2023.