Anna Berger won the women’s title at the 2026 FAI European Paragliding Championships in Kruševo. She beat 130 pilots from 30 countries across nine tasks, finishing ahead of Germany’s Elisa Deutschmann and Italy’s Silvia Buzzi Ferraris.
One early landing, four flawless replies
The title fight swung on the fifth day. Berger landed early and lost almost the entire task. Many bids would have ended there. Instead, she flew the next four tasks without a single mistake and took back the lead.
The nine routes ranged from 68 to 104 kilometres. Pilots spent more than 35 hours in the air and covered roughly 813 kilometres each. Berger sealed the crown with steady, disciplined flying in the closing days.
A team silver and a personal first
Her gold lifted the host nation to team silver behind Slovenia. North Macedonia had placed fourth at the 2022 Europeans and won bronze at the 2023 World Championships. This result marks a first individual European title for the country.
“I still haven’t realised I’m European Champion,” Berger wrote afterwards. “So grateful for the best support system which made this possible.”
New ground, home ground
Meet director Goran Dimiskovski called the week spectacular, with no accidents and strong conditions. The women’s race ran without the French champions due to a political boycott, but Berger still had to beat a tenacious Deutschmann, who called second place “bittersweet” but said she was proud of how hard she pushed.
A home title won after nearly losing it. The best competition of her career, and a quiet step into new territory for Macedonian paragliding.