History written
Kite final with Valentin Bontus LIVE today at noon
Valentin Bontus is Olympic champion! After qualifying via the semi-finals, the Lower Austrian won all three finals before Marseille, making him the first Formula Kite winner in Olympic history. Silver went to Toni Vodisek from Slovenia, while "wunderkind" Maximilian Maeder (Singapore) had to settle for bronze.
The 23-year-old had actually set his sights on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but was only supposed to be at his absolute best in California. The plan was bad - or Bontus was simply too good.
Dance moves during the wind break
The red-white-red shooting star went into the final without any points, so the competition would have been over if his Slovenian opponent had won, and Maeder also started the medal race with a one-point lead. Bontus didn't care, he danced on the beach before the races and then delivered on the water. And made short work of it ...
The Austrian dominated the first part of the final on Thursday, before the wind put a spanner in the works and made another race impossible. The decision had to be postponed.
Friday also began with no wind, and Bontus and Co. had to wait just under three hours before going out on the water. Unlike the day before, the Perchtoldsdorfer did not get a top start in the first session of the day, but benefited from his line. The "white lightning" quickly took the lead, which he would not relinquish until the finish.
"I am overwhelmed"
While Vodisek crashed in the third run, Bontus went head-to-head with the Italian Riccardo Pianosi, which he ultimately won with aplomb and raced to his second Austrian gold medal in Paris after his sailing colleagues Vadlau/Mähr. "I don't know what to say, I'm overwhelmed. Something happened that I could never have dreamed of. Pure goosebumps, from start to finish. I had to hold back my tears during the anthem and I'm just happy that I was able to show what I can do on the biggest stage," said the Olympic champion.
"My 'full risk' strategy worked in the semi-final," said the Lower Austrian, who took his tactics into the final. He has not yet realized his triumph, "two gold medals in sailing are certainly a decent statement," says Bontus, who was surprised by the weight of the medal. When asked about his unmistakable white ski suit, he joked on ORF: "Next time we'll make it gold."
Discipline change after knee injury
Bontus' appearance at the Games was initially due to an injury. In 2020, the OeSV athlete - then still a freestyle and big air kiter - tore his cruciate ligament, which put an end to the "tricks and jumps" chapter. "In the end, it led to where I am today and in a way, that's the biggest blessing," Bontus recently recalled to the "Krone". He was proved right ...
When he learned that the Formula Kite was making its Olympic debut at the Games in Paris, the surfing joker reoriented himself and quickly fought his way to the top of the world rankings. Bontus traveled to France as the secret favorite - and left Marseille as Olympic champion ...
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.