"It's amazing! This is my first title win at a championship. The European title is the reward for a lot of training and hard work. I can't believe it's paid off like this," says Michele Becker, delighted with her European title at the IFCA European Slalom Championship on Borkum and the 4000 euro prize money. The event was also the third stop of the Multivan Windsurf Cup.
A total of eight foil eliminations were held over four days, but there was not enough wind for the Finn classification. After a dominant start with three victories, the second day began with a setback for Becker: he injured his foil before the first start and had to start the race with a cut on his thigh. Bleeding heavily, he fought his way through the entire elimination. He did not let himself be put off and secured victory in this race. On land, however, Becker was met by an ambulance, which took him directly to the island hospital in Borkum. About an hour and ten stitches later, he was discharged, but had completely missed a race as a result.
Nico Prien made the European Championship race exciting once again
This was then won by Nico Prien, who, after a very bad start to the event - he had started in the wrong heat in the first elimination and was disqualified - fought a close duel with Michele Becker. On the following day, Nico Prien also managed two victories ahead of Becker, making the race for the European title exciting once again. However, the eighth and final elimination brought the decision: With his fifth win in eight races, Becker made everything clear and took the European Championship title - thanks to three strings with the ideal score of 0.0.
Fabian Wolf came in third behind runner-up European champion Nico Prien with 4.0. With two exceptions, which he was able to cross off, he only achieved top 5 results. As a result, the athlete from Kiel came out on top in the battle for third place on the podium with a total of 16.0 points. Two international starters, Ennio del Pont from Italy and Scotty Stallman, finished in the top 5 behind him, while Gunnar Asmussen, who recorded two second places as his best results, came sixth.
With only three women in the open foil classification, no separate races were started and they took to the course together with the men. Justine Lemeteyer became European champion with a remarkable twelfth place in the men's field ahead of Maé Davico and Sophie Persine. A total of 40 starters from 14 nations were entered for the European Championships, 26 of whom competed in the foil. According to the organisers, the fact that the rest were unable to race with the Finn was the only downer.
Results IFCA Slalom EM 2023
Gents
- Michele Becker
- Nico Prien
- Fabian Wolf
- Ennio dal Pont
- Scotty Stallman
- Gunnar Asmussen
- Pierre Macquaert
- Jonne Heimann
- Ingmar Daldorf
- Leo Richter
Ladies
- Justine Lemeteyer
- Maé Davico
- Sophie Persine
