GKA Freestyle-Kite World Cup Colombia 2023 - Day 1 Highlights

Third day of the GKA Freestyle-Kite World Cup in Salinas del Rey, Colombia: With three days in a row of solid, building wind, the crew is stoked on the conditions. Coming off an action-packed day yesterday, the judges and crowd are looking for another day of big tricks, interesting combinations, and one of the most powerful displays of strength and execution in kiteboarding!

Second day of the GKA Freestyle-Kite World Cup in Salinas del Rey, Colombia began with the men's first heat - the seeding round - where the hungry competitors try to make a name for themselves. The tension was rising as the competitors were eager to get on the water. Jack Rieder (CAN) and Posito Martinez (DOM) were the two standouts of the Second Round and were among the riders that utilized the wave kickers the most. They also executed handle passes in both directions demonstrating excellent...

On Day 3 Round 4 and 5 of the men was completed with standout moments such as a seatbelt Mobe 5 from Maxime Chabloz (SUI), and a massive Slim 9 to the moon from the Luis Cruz (DOM). To everyone’s surprise, Juan Rodriguez (COL) threw down a solid heat, demonstrating to everyone that home court advantage is real, advancing along with Manoel Soares (BRA) into the Semi-Finals. In the final heat of the day, Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA) scored a 9.3, for the highest score of the day for a massive 319....

WOMEN'S FINAL: In the Women’s Finals, Bruna Kajiya (BRA) took on Rita Arnaus (ESP), Mikaili Sol (BRA) and Estefania Rosa (BRA). Conditions were strong and the women were powered on 6-9meter kites. The heat started with Estefania Rosa landing a solid 313 and Hinterberger mobe. It was a close heat with Rita Arnaus landing a super clean Slim Chance scoring a 7.37 and backing it up with an S-bend to blind with an air pass. Veteran Bruna Kajiya laid down a solid heat with a Slim Chance followed u...

It was a mellow morning as super stars such as Mikaili Sol (BRA), Bruna Kajiya (BRA), Jeremy Burlando (ESP) and Carlos Mario (BRA) started filling in to confirm their event participation. Welcoming ceremonies began and spectators flooded the event site, eager for the action. Riders began warming up with the current world champion Arthur Guillebert (FRA) throwing huge tricks . The competition of 22 men and 6 women representing over 10 countries started following the freestyle format of the G...

Day 3 of the Copa Kitley GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup in Taiba, Brazil was the third and final round of the Freestyle discipline with lots of technical tricks. The new GKA Freestyle Kite World Champions 2022: Mikaili Sol (BRA) and Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA).

For all four riders (Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA) / Juan Rodriguez (COL) / Arthur Guillebert (FRA) / Manoel Soares (BRA)) in the final, this wasn’t their cleanest performance, but that can of course be the result of the pressure in the final. There was no doubt though that Soares dominated the final and deservingly took the win. His best trick was the heart attack 7 he threw on trick three, scoring 8.73, right at the moment that the other riders in the heat were really starting to have words wit...