Country International Last awarded 2016 | First awarded 1938 Official website Official site | |
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Awarded for Remarkable performance in gliding, or eminent services to the sport of gliding over a long period of time Presented by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) | ||
Lilienthal Gliding Medal – the highest soaring award in the world, established by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 1938 in honor of Otto Lilienthal, a German pioneer of human aviation. It aims "to reward a particularly remarkable performance in gliding, or eminent services to the sport of gliding over a long period of time". The award is made at the annual FAI General Conference. Medal was designed by Austrian artist Josef Humplik.
The first winner of the Lilienthal Gliding Medal in the world was Tadeusz Góra for his record-breaking 577.8-kilometer flight on May 18, 1938, glider PWS-101 from Bezmiechowa to Soleczniki (near Vilnius).
The Medal is awarded by a vote of the Delegates to the International Gliding Commission at the annual Plenary in March. In 2012 it was decided to end the practice of awarding the Medal for accomplishments of the previous calendar year, and to associate the Medal with the year in which the recipient is determined. Consequently, the year 2013 does not appear in the table below.
Recipients
Recipients of this award, from 1938 to present, include: