A competition should be a way to push your own limits and face loyally others atheletes of your discipline.
Unfortunately, when other interests, other than sport, come into play, it changes. Competition assumes a prevalently economic value and loyalty and friendship are overwhelmed by deception and grudge, and everything it seemed to be allowed if it leads you to victory.
Fortunately kitesurf is a sport with not a lot of media coverage and the integrity still emerges during the competitions.
In most of the kitesurf competition there are not more than around fifty competitors for any discipline. So those athletes know themselves, they often train together or they ride for the same brand, so they are friends.
What really surprised me is that this good vibe keep going on during each event, especially on the kitesurf freestyle world tour.
There are obviously groups more or less choesive according to the different nationalities or team brand, but this doesn’t affect the impressive support among all the riders.
In each competition, and especcially in freestyle, mates and rivals help heach other at the beach to change kite size according to wind gusts, they congratulate and celebrate for their friends success. Sportmanship remains a respected value!
That doesn’t mean that there is not criticism of the jusdes’ judgment or a sense of disappointement for a defeat at the last trick. But those bad vibes are fully accepted like it’s supposed to be, with the understanding that anyone can make a mistake.
I do love kitesurf and so I’m proud that there are till some “positive” competition and I wish that it can last long.
All the pictures have been taken during the World Kiteboarding Championships by Svetlana Romantsova
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