PWA Japan 2025: These are the new foil world champions - drama surrounding Justine Lemeteyer
So far, Japan has been more of a light wind area at the Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup 2025, Japan was more of a light wind area, but on the last day the wind really picked up again. After an almost calm morning, it became increasingly windy, with up to 30 knots being measured on the course at times. "There's more wind than on Fuerteventura," said Marion Mortefon, describing the somewhat unexpected conditions on the last day of the 2025 season.
The action in the men's event is easy to recount: the conclusion of elimination 3 and elimination 4, which was still in full swing, were a mirror image of the last few days: Johan Søe unbeatable in front, followed by a close duel between Matteo Iachino and Pierre Mortefon. First the Frenchman was in front, then Iachino again. With impressive consistency, the Italian won his third world championship title, with Mortefon finishing ahead of Maciek Rutkowski on the podium. Great from a German perspective: Fabian Wolf finished fifth in Japan with a strong performance!
Blackout with Justine Lemeteyer
What happened in the women's event, on the other hand, nobody could have guessed in the morning. Justine Lemeteyer went into the final of the fourth elimination, which had already started yesterday, with a commanding lead, and only a completely unexpected course of the day could have given second-placed Lina Erzen a chance. One more win and Lemeteyer would have been as good as through - but the Frenchwoman stumbled and crashed in the first gybe and only finished third in the end, while Maja Gysler celebrated her first victory in the World Cup.
The match continued with elimination four, which brought a string into play and gave Lemeteyer the chance to keep her clean slate. She quickly found her rhythm again and won her semi-final as usual. But then came the blackout: the final was cancelled due to an alleged early start, but in the end none of the riders had crossed the line too early. However, due to a misunderstanding between Lemeteyer and the start boat, the Frenchwoman thought she had been disqualified, returned to the beach and missed the final.
The favourites show nerves
This slip-up opened the door for Lina Erzen again, leaving Lemeteyer with only a wafer-thin lead ahead of the final and decisive race. Both were in the same semi-final, and the Slovenian showed nerves at the first buoy and went into the water. A sure thing for Lemeteyer? No, because with a dramatic catapult the defending champion was also out of the race, she drifted so far that she had to do an extra lap to get round the next buoy.
While Justine Lemeteyer had to watch the last final of the season idly from the beach, Lina Erzen now had things in her own hands. The Slovenian fought an extremely close race with Blanca Alabau, Erzen did not let up, although she stumbled several times at the buoys. Shortly before the finish it happened: a crash on the straight made victory in this elimination clear for Blanca Alabau!
World Championship decision in a tie-break
At the same time, this last result also shuffled the World Cup cards once again: Alabau won the World Cup in Japan and was suddenly level on points with Lemeteyer in the lead. Has the Frenchwoman gambled away her title defence with just one bad day this year? All the individual results of the season had to be taken into account for the decision, and thanks to more first and second places, Justine Lemeteyer can celebrate her second World Cup title. The PWA clip shows her in tears as she learns of the happy outcome of a dramatic day:
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Søe in a class of its own
Light or strong winds - it doesn't seem to make any difference to Johan Søe. He defends his event title with an absolutely perfect performance. Søe leaves this year's event with four wins from four eliminations. Søe has also won the last four World Tour events he has taken part in. His speed, tactics and jibes make him a real racing machine - and at the moment he looks almost unstoppable. If he rides the entire Tour next year, he will be a hot contender for the title!
Pierre Mortefon completes the event podium to become the 2025 World Championship runner-up. Mortefon won the Slalom X World Championship earlier this year, and given all his material problems during the season, the title of World Championship runner-up is a remarkable result. Maciek Rutkowski ends the season in third place after the Pole finished fourth in Japan with a third place and two fourth places. His main rival for the final podium place in the overall standings - Amado Vrieswijk - could only finish eighth in Japan, although he won both B finals on the last day.
Fabian Wolf with the best result of his career
After his first top ten result in Sylt last month, Fabian Wolf achieved the best result of his World Tour career to date with 5th place. "The Wolf" qualified for all four Winner's Finals in Japan - in this form, he will be one of the world's best in 2026!
Alexis Mathis also ended the season with his best result of the year - 6th place - while his team-mate Scotty Stallman achieved his first top ten result on the World Tour with 7th place. The top ten in Japan is completed by William Huppert in 9th place and Elia Colombo in 10th place - the Swiss finished fourth in the third race.
