Drop the Bar! Madness and precision define the European Junior Kite Foil Championship in Sardinia 🇮🇹
It was a thrilling finish to the European Junior Kite Foil Championship held on the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia 🇮🇹 The challenging conditions and the fight for top positions made for an impressive spectacle. Did you miss it? Don't worry, we'll tell you all the details at SUELTALABARRA.
European Junior Kite Foil Championships: Sardinia crowns its champions after a thrilling finale
In this article, I bring you all the excitement of the International Kiteboarding Association's (IKA) latest Formula Kite event:
The final standings reflect the dominance of the top three on Saturday, but getting there wasn't easy. The finals for both the men's and women's fleets were filled with razor-thin overtaking moves, and even a few riders dropped the bar , as we saw on Instagram, although @sueltalabarra wasn't tagged.
The crowning moment of the championship, without a doubt, came in the first downwind leg of the women's final. Lysa Caval of France took the overall victory despite having injured her right ankle in a nasty fall on the opening day.
Caval reached the final, a best-of-three round, with two bonus points ahead of Turkey's Derin Atakan, who started with one bonus point. If Caval won the first round, she would be crowned champion.
However, at the start, Caval was relegated to third place behind her compatriot Zoe Boutang at the start of the first downwind. Under extreme pressure, she gritted her teeth, overtook Poland's Magda Woyciechowska, and carved out a perfect turn ahead of Atakan, their kites almost touching!
In less than a minute, she went from third to first. Lysa Caval held her own until the end and was crowned European Junior Women's Champion. Derin Atakan took silver, and Magda Woyciechowska bronze.
"It's incredible. I've never won a final in my life," said Lysa Caval, who had won events before, but never in a toss-up final. "When I crossed the finish line, I said to myself, 'I've done it. I've done the work, and that's it. I'm very happy.'"
The U-17 riders weren't far behind, putting on a show for the rest of the fleet. Poland's Karolina Jankowska took the victory in the U-17 women's category, achieving an impressive seventh place overall.
Meanwhile, Karl Maeder, also from Switzerland, took the European Under-17 men's title after finishing tenth overall.
This championship, held in Torregrande, Sardinia, was a real showcase. The new 2028 Olympic kite and foil equipment was on display, and the young riders pushed the limits of Formula Kite to the extreme.
In the words of the international organization: Considering that some Olympic participants were already part of the fleet, we can almost certainly say that future male and female Olympic medalists were present in Sardinia!
Results of the Men's European Junior Kite Foil Championship in Sardinia 🇮🇹
I'll finish with the podium images of the Youth and Senior classifications.
2024 Formula Kite Youth European Championship boys podium:
🥇Karl Maeder 🇨🇭
🥈Carmel Notify 🇮🇱
🥉Julio Houze 🇮🇹
2024 Formula Kite Youth European Championship boys podium:
🥇 Riccardo Pianosi 🇮🇹
🥈 Gian Stragiotti 🇨🇭
🥉 Jan Voester 🇩🇪
Results of the Women's European Junior Kite Foil Championship in Sardinia 🇮🇹
2024 Formula Kite Youth European Championship girls podium:
🥇Karolina Jankowska 🇵🇱
🥈Tylia Louber 🇫🇷
🥉Argyro Krotsi 🇬🇷
2024 Formula Kite Youth European Championship girls podium:
🥇Lysa Caval 🇫🇷
🥈Derin Atakan 🇹🇷
🥉Magdalena Woyciechowska 🇵🇱
Thanks to kiteclasses.org for keeping us informed and to @r_hajduk for the images of the championship. I hope to contribute to the dissemination and growth of international kitefoiling with these articles.
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