iQFoil European Championship: Nicolo Renna and Mina Mobekk are European champions, Sebastian Kördel takes silver

The Medal Race is one of the special features of the Olympic iQFoil class: the ten best riders compete for the final positions in the race that decides the final placings - regardless of the starting positions. Sebastian Kördel, the reigning world champion, was in a commanding lead after 18 runs and won the majority of the races. In the medal race, however, Nicolo Renna from Italy was faster and is therefore the new European champion, with Kördel "only" taking silver. Third place went to Kiran Badloe, the reigning Olympic champion.

Kördel nevertheless emphasised his role as a hot contender for an Olympic medal with his performance in Patras. Both in tough conditions with 25 knots and more, as on the opening days, and in light winds, as on the penultimate day of the event, the man from Lake Constance was always among the front runners. For the finale, the wind in the Gulf of Patras blew again at around 30 knots, and the starts were initially postponed for safety reasons. Fabian Wolf finished in 62nd place, Jonne Heimann in 86th place and Lars Poggemann in 92nd place.

Kördel dominated the main round

The all-important race began with a costly early start, as a result of which the Dutch Olympic champion Kiran Badloe was disqualified. This turned the planned three-way battle for the title into a duel. The Italian got off to the better start. Although Kördel fought his way closer in the meantime, he was unable to stop Nicolò Renna on this day.

Kördel only stopped in the final after a dominant main round
Silver instead of gold did not change the fact that the 1.91 metre tall exceptional windsurfer in the German Sailing Team had taken six victories in 18 races up to the final day. A look at the net points of all the players in the European title fights up to the last race shows how outstanding Kördel's surfing was: With just 42 net points after the five-day main round, he had confidently paved his direct route to the final.

The next best windsurfer before the start of the final was Kiran Badloe with 62 points. The eventual European champion Nicolò Renna had even collected more than 100 points in the main round before making the final day his own. Because, unlike the sailors, the Olympic windsurfers do not take their results from the main round into the final day, Renna only needed one final race after a successful quarter and semi-final to knock the German world champion off his throne after his magnificent series in the European Championship final.

DSV coach Dom Tidey: "Sebastian is a strong all-round surfer"

Sebastian Kördel's British DSV coach Dom Tidey was pleased with his protégé's silver medal: "Sebastian had a great series. Our main mission was to make it to the final in the yellow jersey. That went well. We are definitely on course for the 2024 Olympic Games." When asked about "Basti" Kördel's strengths, Dom Tidey said: "He's simply a very strong all-round surfer and can win slalom and course races."

Kördel himself said that he was travelling with the "wrong set-up" in the final. "I was the best over the week. The Italian was the best today. He hit the right day. It gave us new input that we can continue to work with in a focussed way." Kördel rated his renewed medal-winning performance as a positive: "That's good, of course." After a flying visit to Lake Constance at home, Kördel will return to Kiel, where he will start the Kiel Week in June as the top favourite.

The picture in the women's event was similar to that of the men: Sharon Kantor from Israel dominated large parts of the European Championships, but only finished second in the medal race behind Norway's Mina Mobekk. Emma Wilson from Great Britain came third. Shahar Tibi and Katy Spychakov are two other starters from Israel in the top 10, while 16-year-old Tamar Steinberg in 12th place also put in a strong performance and was even in second place at one point. Team Netherlands also brought home two top 10 finishes with Sara Wennekes in eighth place and Lilian de Geus in ninth.

The best German is Theresa Steinlein in 22nd place, closely followed by Lena Erdil in 24th place, Alisa Engelmann finished the European Championships in 42nd place and Helena Wanser in 78th place.

More on the topic:

• iQFoil-EM: Sebastian Kördel drives to the top
• iQFoil-EM: Perfect day for Goyard and Kantor, Kördel in 3rd place
• iQFoil-EM: Sebastian Kördel with a strong start, Goyard and Wennekes in the lead
• "I know I can beat anyone!" - Interview with iQFoil world champion Sebastian Kördel
• Who is Olympic hopeful Alisa Engelmann?
• Quick check of the new Olympiaboard iQFoil