GKA Freestyle World Cup Leucate - Day 2
by Jim Gaunt 22 Apr 2019 10:13 BST
20-25 April 2019
GKA Freestyle World Cup Leucate - Day 2 © Svetlana Romantsova
Day two and yesterday's sunshine was unfortunately replaced with unseasonal dark clouds and a veering light wind that continued throughout Easter Sunday.
The competition remains on hold with four days still remaining in the event period. Keep your fingers crossed conditions look much better for the end of the period, but things change quick here when the powerful Tramontane wind kicks-in.
Interview: Head Judge Mallory de la Villemarque
Mallory de la Villemarque heads up the judging team for the Freestyle discipline on the GKA Kite World Tour. A vastly experienced judge, having been involved in the World Kiteboarding Championships before it was brought under the GKA wings, Mallory has also been a judge on the GKA's Kite-Surf discipline since its inception in 2015. The final big feather in his bow is that he competed at the top level on the PKRA Freestyle world tour himself for five seasons, before injuries brought about early retirement.
Born in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, Mallory, 31, speaks four languages fluently and now lives in kiteboarding's European capital, Tarifa. Level headed, calm under pressure and with a strong vision for the stable development of the freestyle discipline in kiteboarding, as Head Judge he creates strong relationships and trust among both the riders and organisers.
Now that the sport's top level is unified and even clearer with just one Freestyle World Championship title up for grabs, Jim Gaunt caught up with Mallory just before the GKA Freestyle World Cup Leucate to hear about this year's format and his expectations for this event and beyond in 2019.
Find out all you need to know about the 2019 GKA Freestyle World Cup formats, what's new and who to watch in the interview here!