GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup Dunkerque, France 2023 - Preview
by Ian MacKinnon 15 Aug 2023 12:02 BST
16-20 August 2023
The leaders in the freestyle discipline of the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour are set to continue their quest for title glory when the world cup makes its upcoming debut stop in Dunkerque, northern France.
Freestyle world champions Mikaili Sol (USA) and Gianmaria Coccoluto (ITA) are ready to battle in the five-day event on the North Sea in the hope of keeping their title defence on track as the GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup Dunkerque marks the season's mid-point.
Both have one world cup crown to their name this season. But each has also slipped up, unable to press their dominance in a second of the two stops that have been staged.
Now at the GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup France, which will be staged on Dunkerque's long and wide strand in front of Place du Centenaire, the pair must put points on the board with just two more stops to come.
On a charge
Sol, still just 18, has five freestyle world titles to her name and is eager to make it six, in addition to the two Qatar Airways GKA Big Air Kite World Championship crowns she has bagged.
But Brazil's veteran freestyler, Bruna Kajiya, with three freestyle world titles, will be keen to make moves in Dunkerque to give herself a chance for a fourth title. She won the first stop in Fuwairit, Qatar, where the season will also wrap up and the champions wil be crowned.
Neither athlete will be able to rest on their laurels. Sweden's Nathlalie Lambrecht has been on a charge this season and took a second at the GKA Big Air Worlds in Tarifa, in June, demonstrating she means business.
Spain's Claudia Leon has also shown she has the capability of upsetting the form books after taking a world cup stop victory in Neom, Saudia Arabia, last year. Denmark's Therese Taabbel is still working her way back to full fitness after injury, but looks dangerous.
Topped the standings
Coccoluto dreams of taking back-to-back world titles, with the hope of a third that he believes would seal his stature in kiting. But already this season the four-times freestyle world champion, Brazil's Carlos Mario, has put a pin in Coccoluto's notion with a win at the last tour stop in Salinas del Rey, Colombia, in March.
The top of the men's order is so tight that picking a winner is too close to call, with any one of half a dozen athletes out of the roster of 24 capable of taking the crown. Brazil's Manoel Soares and the Colombian duo of Juan Rodriguez and Valentin Rodriguez, have all topped the standings in the past.
The French athletes will no doubt be charged and gunning for glory in front of home fans. Mauritius-based Louka Pitot took a third in Qatar this year, while former world champion Arthur Guillebert will seek to recapture his winning ways. Valentin Garat and Peyo Cremades will want to join the party.