Fail to launch: America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race on hold for this year's Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta attendees will notice something big missing at this year’s event: the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race won’t be taking place.

“Due to timing of the FAI World Long Distance Gas Balloon Championship 67th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett in Münster, Germany, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta’s America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race will not occur as a part of the 2024 event,” said Tom Garrity, media relations director for the nine-day Balloon Fiesta, which starts Saturday.

The 2024 Gordon Bennett Cup launched in mid-September, which didn’t provide participants enough time to transport their balloons and equipment to Albuquerque for the America’s Challenge.

“Given that the fact that almost all of the teams that compete are in Europe at the Gordon Bennett, they just couldn’t get enough people to try to do both races,” said Kim Vesely, navigator for America’s Challenge and Balloon Fiesta volunteer.

Using lighter-than-air gases, such as hydrogen or helium, to lift the balloons, the America’s Challenge is one of two distance races for such balloons in the world, the other being the Gordon Bennett.

“Gordon Bennett is the world’s oldest air race,” she said. “The first Gordon Bennett was held in 1906 and it was founded by a newspaperman by the name of James Gordon Bennett Jr. He founded races in a lot of emerging sports.”

“The Gordon Bennett, by tradition, is held in the country of the winners from two years before,” Vesely said. “In other words, the country with the team that wins the race has the honor of hosting the race two years later.”

Vesely said there are exceptions, including last year when the host nation decided it could not host the race and it was put out to bid and held in Albuquerque.

The America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race will return to the Balloon Fiesta in 2025.