Formula Kite European Championship

Bontus came within a hair’s breadth of a medal

Valentin Bontus finished the European Championships as the fourth best European.(Bild: Robert Hajduk || RORC)

Valentin Bontus finished fourth in the Olympic Formula Kite class off Los Alcázares in Spain. Strong winds on the final day cost the Perchtoldsdorf kite surfer from Yachtclub Podersdorf the medal that was within his grasp until the very end.

Last year he surfed his way into the world class for the first time with a sensational fourth place at the World Championships, but on Sunday Valentin Bontus once again narrowly missed out on his first medal at a major event. The athlete from the Podersdorf Yacht Club finished the Formula Kite European Championship in sixth place as the fourth-best European off Los Alcázares.

Strong winds on the final day did not play into Bontus' hands.(Bild: Robert Hajduk || RORC)

As fourth overall after the opening series, Bontus went into his semi-final as the top seed. In strong wind conditions, however, he was unable to secure the race win he needed on the 11-man kite to reach the final, which would have meant at least bronze. After three races, the Brazilian Bruno Lobo finally qualified for the final series.

The medal "saved" for the Olympics?
"In my fleet, I had Lobo and Jannis Maus as opponents who sail very consistently in strong winds. Unfortunately, this time I lacked the downwind speed that I would have needed to win," analyzed the 23-year-old immediately after the European Championship: "It's a very good result for the first event of the year, but it's still annoying that it wasn't quite enough to win a medal. I'm already looking forward to the next events, I want to keep riding consistently and hopefully I've saved the medal for another event." For the Olympics, for example...

All in all, Valentin Bontus was satisfied with his performance.(Bild: Robert Hajduk || RORC)

I want to keep riding consistently and hopefully I've just saved the medal for another event.

Der EM-Vierte Valentin BONTUS

Maximilian Maeder (Singapore) won the competition in impressive fashion, while the European title went to Axel Mazella from France.

"Valentin still has a lot of potential"
 OeSV sports director Matthias Schmid was also somewhat ambivalent in his summary: "It's a shame that he didn't win a medal in the end - he lacked the necessary luck. But it was only his third time in the medal series, so we need to learn from that and build up a routine in this final situation. In general, we can be very satisfied with the performance. Valentin has worked well over the winter and established himself in the top six, the podium is within reach. He still has a lot of potential and will also take the next steps.