Closest landing to target (#2), Open

There were 26 ballooning events at the 1900 Paris Exposition, which were more properly termed exhibitions. They were mixed, with both men and women participating. The events all took place starting at the Aerostation at the Parc de Vincennes in Paris. There were several balloon events for closest landing to target. This one was won by Henry, Count de la Vaulx who competed in no less than 19 balloon events at the 1900 Paris Exposition. He also won six of them, including the Grand Prix de l’Aeronautique, which was the all-around ballooning title, based on results in the other events. For winning this event he received a silver plaque valued at 200 francs.

Count de la Vaulx was considered the pioneer of aeronautics in France and was a co-founder of the Aero Club de France in 1898. Later in October 1900 he set a distance record for most distance travelled by balloon, covering just over 1,900 km (1,200 miles) from Vincennes to Korostychev, near Kyiv, Ukraine in 35¾ hours. He was given the Grand Medal of the Aero Club de France for his contributions to aviation and in 1905 Count de la Vaulx co-founded and became a director of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).