Oct 30, 2023
This week, the IQFoil Junior World Championship was held from October 23rd to 28th in the Bay of Cadiz.
The Italians, Leonardo Tomasini and Francesca Maria Salerno in the U19 category and the French Kylian Manhaval and the Norwegian Tuva Oppedal in the U17 category won the championship.
With the participation of 366 competitors and the representation of 30 different countries, the iQFOil Junior and Youth World Championships were packed with competitors, proving that the Olympic class has carved a niche for itself among the younger generations. And at the end of a week marked by a variety of conditions, the epilogue of the event came on Saturday with the medal races.
In the men's U19 category, this final day saw an electrifying duel, with Italy's Leonardo Tomasini brilliantly defending his 1st place obtained on the 1st day of racing. He finished ahead of Latvia's Davis Mazais and Poland's Igor Lewinski. Among the U19 women competitors, Norway's Tuva Oppedal confirmed her supremacy. Her epic final against Germany's Sophia Meyer and Czech Kristyna Pinosova was a demonstration of pure talent.
In the U17 boys' event, France's Kylian Manhaval impressed throughout the week and retained his gold medal after a thrilling final with Spain's Antonio Medina and his compatriot Titouan Lethuillier. On the women's side, Italy's Francesca María Salerno caused a surprise by moving up from 4th to 1st place. Spain's Martina Mantovani and Italy's Medea Falcioni took 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
In the U15 category, where competitors race alongside the U17s, Italy's Medea Falcioni and Dutchman Finn Brüll were the winners.
You can see the highlights of the competition on the Tactic Audiovisual YouTube channel.