Congratulations to Joe Wurts of New Zealand, and junior competitor John Bradley of USA, whose outstanding performances in the final rounds have rewarded them with gold medals and world champion titles at the 2025 FAI F5J World Championships for Electric Powered Thermal Duration Gliders in Córdoba, Argentina. 

Team Argentina were delighted by a Junior team category overall win, aided by Agustín and Pedro Goldenzweig's silver and bronze individual medals, as well as becoming Vice-Champions in the Senior team category, just behind Czechia who claimed the Senior team world champion status for 2025.

A total of 60 senior and 12 junior competitors from 18 nations competed in the event, which was hosted by the Argentine Aeromodelling Federation. This may be Joe Wurts' first F5J gold medal, but it is not the first time that he has achieved world champion status in aeromodelling. A seasoned competitor in F3 categories, he was awarded a CIAM Legend medal at the 2023 FAI Awards Ceremony in Dayton, Ohio, USA.

Senior champion: Joe Wurts from New Zealand

Final Results

Senior individual

1. Joseph Wurts (New Zealand)
2. Gabriel Bartoli Leon (Argentina)
3. Olaf Starmanns (Germany)

Senior teams

1. Czechia
2. Argentina
3. Croatia

Junior individual

1. John Bradley (USA)
2. Agustín Goldenzweig (Argentina)
3. Pedro Goldenzweig (Argentina)

Junior teams

1. Argentina
2. USA
3. Germany

John Bradley (left) - the new junior world champion in F5J

FAI Aeromodelling Commission (CIAM) President and Jury Member Antonis Papadopoulos said:

“These FAI F5J World Championships were concluded successfully. On behalf of CIAM I would like to thank the organising team from Argentina for their effort in preparing and running the event and of course for their warm hospitality, with special thanks also to the volunteers for sharing their time in ensuring the event went smoothly. Congratulations to all the winners and all those who participated. We are looking forward to the next world championships in 2027 in the USA!”

Three female pilots competed in total. In the seniors, Beth Loveday of Australia came ahead of Amanda Anabela Gonzalez from Argentina in points. In the junior category the female pilot was Charlotte Mahmoudi of Germany.

Charlotte Mahmoudi (Germany): junior female competitor

more NEWS articles on THE competition

• FAI interview with Joe Wurts in 2023
• Competition heats up in Argentina
• Opening Ceremony: FAI World Championships for Electric Powered Thermal Duration Gliders
• Competition overview article

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