This page contains a list of champions and prize winners from various international and national tournaments of sports related to kiting. You will find information about the best athletes, their achievements and victories, as well as data on the competitions themselves. The page presents lists of winners in different categories: men, women, as well as in different disciplines: Big Air, Freestyle, Kite-surf, Park.
List of the most popular kiteboarding competitions
edit| Picture | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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KOTA | Red Bull King of the Air - Annual competition held in Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of the most prestigious events in the world of kiteboarding, where the best riders from all over the world compete in performing the highest and most complex jumps. |
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World Tour | As of 2024, since 2017 the world tour has been organized by the GKA association. Previously, competitions were held under the auspices of WKT, PKRA, VKWC and others. |
| BAKL | Big-Air competitions, held since 2021. |
List of disciplines
edit| Picture | Discipline | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Big Air | Big Air discipline is the fastest-growing category of kiteboarding. It is the natural evolution of “old school” Freestyle. The men and women athletes compete in the strongest winds, using the power of the kite to boost themselves off the water. They can achieve heights of 30 metres and travel more than 100 metres downwind.
The Big Air discipline has two categories: Twin-tip and Surfboard. In each discipline the height, amplitude and explosiveness the athletes achieve is the biggest element of the judged scores. As the wind picks up, the emphasis on the height element increases exponentially. | |
| Freestyle | Competitions for Twin-tip Freestyle riders. Male and female athletes competing in Freestyle world cups perform a constantly-updated series of tricks to earn points from the judges and advance through the knock-out contest.
The Freestyle discipline has developed to encompass a variety of formats, in order to become more inclusive and take account of variable conditions.
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Kite-Surf | Kite-Surf discipline aims to find the most complete surfboard rider. The championship is contested over a series of pure wave events, pure strapless-freestyle and mixed format events, depending on the conditions. The success of the Kite-Surf tour has been that its format is able to adapt to a range of conditions, whether there are waves or not. Competition schedules are set months in advance, making it difficult to guarantee waves for a pure surfing contest.
In the absence of good waves, the discipline may be staged in a strapless-freestyle format, where the athletes are prohibited from using foot straps. Here the competitors perform tricks—jumps, rotations and kiteloops—off the small waves that act as take-off ramps. The athletes also use the power of their kites to help them get airborne. | |
| Park | The Kite Park League (KPL) was created by the World’s best slider and kicker riders. Established in 2016, it is the first time that kiteboard park riding has had a competitions series. Collectively the riders have been pushing this side of kiteboarding for years, drawing inspiration from other board sports like wakeboarding, skateboarding, and snowboarding. Style is of the utmost concern to the judges, with lesser rotations often receiving higher scores when grabs and presses are added. The event format is loosely based on snowboarding events, with a turn by turn drop in heat structure rather than a timer, that has now also been adapted into the freestyle discipline. Riders display their skill with both kicker and slider hits to move through the dingle elimination ladder to the top. |
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List of male winners of the competitions
edit| Year | Competition | Discipline | Winner | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | KOTA | Big Air | ||
| 2024 | World Tour | Big Air | ||
| 2024 | World Tour | Kite Surf | ||
| 2024 | World Tour | Kite Surf | ||
| 2024 | World Tour | Park | Ewan Jaspan[1] | Naish |
| 2023 | KOTA | Big Air | Andrea Principi[2] | Duotone |
| 2023 | World Tour | Big Air | Andrea Principi[3] | Duotone |
| 2023 | World Tour | Freestyle | Carlos Mario[3] | Slingshot |
| 2023 | World Tour | Kite Surf | Airton Cozzolino[3] | Duotone |
| 2023 | BAKL | Big Air | Cohan van Dijk[4] | North |
| 2022 | KOTA | Big Air | Lorenzo Casati[2] | Duotone |
| 2022 | World Tour | Big Air | Andrea Principi[5] | Duotone |
| 2022 | World Tour | Freestyle | Gianmaria Coccoluto[5] | Duotone |
| 2022 | World Tour | Kite Surf | James Carew[5] | Duotone |
| 2022 | BAKL | Big Air | Giel Vlugt[6] | Core |
| 2021 | KOTA | Big Air | Marc Jacobs[2] | North |
| 2021 | World Tour | Freestyle | Arthur Guillebert[7] | Eleveight |
| 2021 | World Tour | Kite Surf | James Carew[7] | Duotone |
| 2021 | BAKL | Big Air | Janek Grzegorzewski[8] | Core |
| 2020 | KOTA | Big Air | Jesse Richman[2] | North |
| 2019 | KOTA | Big Air | Kevin Langeree[2] | Naish |
| 2019 | World Tour | Freestyle | Valentin Rodriguez[9] | Duotone |
| 2019 | World Tour | Kite Surf | Airton Cozzolino[9] | Duotone |
| 2018 | KOTA | Big Air | Kevin Langeree[2] | Naish |
| 2018 | World Tour | Kite Surf | Airton Cozzolino[10] | Duotone |
| 2018 | World Tour | Big Air | Carlos Mario[10] | Slingshot |
| 2018 | World Tour | Freestyle | Carlos Mario[10] | Slingshot |
| 2017 | KOTA | Big Air | Nick Jacobsen[2] | Cabrinha |
| 2016 | KOTA | Big Air | Aaron Hadlow[2] | Duotone |
| 2015 | KOTA | Big Air | Aaron Hadlow[2] | Duotone |
| 2014 | KOTA | Big Air | Kevin Langeree[2] | Naish |
| 2013 | KOTA | Big Air | Jesse Richman[2] | Naish |
List of female winners of the competitions
edit| Year | Competition | Discipline | Winner | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | World Tour | Park | Katie Potter[1] | Naish |
| 2023 | World Tour | Big | Mikaili Sol[3] | Duotone |
| 2023 | World Tour | Freestyle | Bruna Kajiya[11] | Airush |
| 2023 | World Tour | Kite Surf | Moona Whyte[12] | Cabrinha |
| 2023 | BAKL | Big Air | Zara Hoogenraad[4] | Core |
| 2022 | BAKL | Big Air | Justine Avril[6] | Duotone |
| 2021 | BAKL | Big Air | Pippa Van Iersel[8] | Duotone |
Comments
edit- ^ a b "2024 First Kite Park Worlds in US".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "KOTA history".
- ^ a b c d "2023 GKA World Tour Ranking".
- ^ a b "BAKL 2023 Rankings".
- ^ a b c "2022 GKA World Tour Rankings". GKA Kite World Tour. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ^ a b "BAKL 2022 Rankings".
- ^ a b "2021 GKA World Tour Rankings".
- ^ a b "2021 BAKL Rankings".
- ^ a b "2019 GKA World Tour Rankings".
- ^ a b c "2018 GKA World Tour Rankings".
- ^ "GKA World Tour".
- ^ "Big Air Kite League".