At Velikiye Luki, Russian ballooning capital

At the 2021 Juniors World Hot Air Balloon Championship, Russia at was represented by two pilots: Dmitry Zhokhov and Vladimir Ermakov (competition numbers 40 and 39).

Both pilots are representatives of the ballooning dynasties, in the second and third generations.

Dmitry came to conquer the Junior Championship for the third time, his first championship was in 2016 in Marijampole.

For Vladimir, this is his debut at the Junior Championships.

For young pilots, their families are examples of their love of aeronautics. They grew up among balloons, and cannot imagine their life without it. Undoubtedly, their parents shared their experience and knowledge about ballooning, but sport ten years ago and sport now is "the Heaven and the Earth", and the most important things that the family is helping young pilots from Russia with are love and great support.

• View an interactive presentation of movements in the standings

By Russian Team Manager Evgeniya Zhokhova and the flymonitor team