At the paper plane World Cup, Brazilians make their hobby an Olympic dream

If the plane was revolutionary for traveling great distances in a few hours, the flight of a paper plane, in just a few seconds, can seem like an eternity. Last Thursday (25), this eternity lasted 5 seconds and 39 thousandths, a record time among the little planes that hovered in the air, without turbulence, on the sports court of Universidade São Judas Tadeu, in São Paulo.

The occasion of the flight was the qualifying stage of the biggest paper airplane championship in the world, the Red Bull Paper Wings. In the capital of São Paulo, the competitions took place on March 24 and 25, but the tournament also takes place in 19 other cities in the country. The next stage is the national one, in Rio de Janeiro, on April 18th.

There are three categories: longest distance traveled, longest flight time and “stunts”, the latter played through videos on TikTok for the first time since the competition began. The winners of the national stage, one from each category, will travel a few meters further than paper planes: the final takes place in September in Salzburg, Austria, with everything paid for by the event’s organization.

So far, the national records for the 2022 qualifiers are 36.60 m in distance; and 10.40 seconds in flight time. In the global ranking, the marks rise to 48.40 m (Germany) and 24.40 seconds (Ivory Coast). A total of 490 qualifiers are being held in 62 countries.

It is not new that children’s games are formalized in world-wide championships. In the recent past, the international tag tag championship was successful on the internet, and the Balloon World Cup (the objective is not to let the air bladder touch the ground), organized in partnership with soccer player Gerard Piqué, attracted over half a million viewers on the Twitch streaming platform as of October 2021.

Perhaps the few seconds of flight of the little planes seem longer because they inevitably refer to memories of many years ago, folding papers and thinking about the best way to launch with friends or family. That was the case for Douglas Santos, 20 years old, responsible for the record on Thursday night (24) in the flight time category.

“I learned to make this model airplane with my father when I was little. It was his hobby, and it became my hobby. It’s nostalgic to reproduce it here today”, says the Physical Education student. The sentiment is shared by João Pedro, 18, a law student, who learned on YouTube how to make his model airplane to teach his younger brother when the two were younger.

Both also believe in the possibility of the practice becoming an Olympic sport eventually. In fact, launching a paper airplane has similarities with archery, for example: you need to understand the direction of the wind, know your instrument well and practice the best possible launch. Perhaps the fate of paper planes will one day be a spot in the Olympic Games.