Grand Prix de l'aéronautique, 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 Aérostation, at the Parc de Vincennes, in Paris.

This was the all-around competition for ballooning at the 1900 Paris Exposition, with points awarded to balloonists based on their performance in each of the separate events. The winner was Henry, Count de la Vaulx, who competed in 19 balloon events, and totaled 5,080 points from a maximum possible of 9,000, well ahead of Jacques Balsan, who had 4,360 points. Count de la Vaulx won five separate events, including three for longest distance travelled. Balsan won four separate events, two for longest distance travelled, and two for greatest heights achieved. For winning the Grand Prix de l’Aaéronautique, Count de la Vaulx was given a gold plaque valued at 1,000 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 and Georges Castillon de Saint-Victor set a distance record for most distance travelled by balloon, covering just over 1,925 km (1,195 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).