PWA World Cup: Emotional day on Fuerte - Pierre Mortefon & Sarah-Quita Offringa take the world title in Slalom-X

Emotions ran high yesterday afternoon as the first Slalom X season in history drew to a close. The swell that had already started on Thursday continued to hit the coast of Sotavento, leading to some massive wipeouts - whether during the speed run, negotiating the chicane or while cheering as they crossed the finish line... the world's best racers put all their eggs in one basket.

Sarah-Quita Offringa wins all four events in recent weeks and is 24-time world champion

Sarah-Quita Offringa started the day in the hunt for world title number 24 after winning each of the five elimination races yesterday. The lady from Aruba was just as dominant today, winning each of the first four races by a clear margin, meaning she had the event win and the world title in the bag before the final race. Offringa once again confirms her status as the queen of windsurfing, having won all four events in the last five weeks.

Justine Lemeteyer: second place in Slalom-X, leader in Foil Slalom

Time and time again it was Justine Lemeteyer who tried to deny Offringa the win, and in the tenth and final elimination she was rewarded when she finished the event with a well-deserved victory. You could clearly see how much this meant to her as she cemented her second place in the event rankings and finishes the first ever Slalom X season as runner-up. And it could get even better as she leads the foil slalom ahead of today's final day.

Marion Mortefon completes the event podium in Fuerteventura, but narrowly misses out on the final spot on the prestigious overall podium as Jenna Gibson secures third place in the world rankings for 2024.

Matteo Iachino wins Fuerte, Pierre Mortefon the world title in Slalom-X

Matteo Iachino finished the season level on points with Mortefon (20,500 points), but had to concede defeat to his long-standing rival in the annual rankings after Mortefon, the newly crowned world champion, made the difference in Pozo. This is because he won several eliminations in the Slalom-X this season, putting him at the top overall. Whether the Italian was aware of the implications or not, with a magnificent jibe at the fourth and final buoy he manoeuvred past Jordy Vonk into the top two shortly before the end of the day, securing victory by just 0.7 points. He was naturally delighted with this event win, but you could tell that the Italian would have just as soon snatched the world championship title.

Mortefon could hardly believe it

Pierre Mortefon had qualified for the Winners' Finals in Slalom X 100 per cent of the time throughout the season, but then the Frenchman crashed heavily on his approach to the jump in yesterday's semi-final of the fifth elimination, putting an end to that great record. At the time, Mortefon didn't realise that he was already assured of the title, so back on the beach he was pretty dejected, thinking that he had lost his chances of winning the world title. However, after initially refusing to believe it, his emotions quickly turned to elation when he learnt that he was the first ever Slalom X World Champion.

Taty Frans completes Fuerte podium, Rutkowski overall podium

Jordy Vonk was pushed from third to fourth place at the last second, not only in the event classification but also in the overall standings. The Dutchman is only one point short in the event standings, while he loses out to Maciek Rutkowski in the overall standings.

Rutkowski performed brilliantly in the final elimination, earning a hard-fought victory there after going head-to-head with Vonk but pulling away after the jump to push himself further ahead.

The outcome of this race also means that Taty Frans, who has been eagerly awaiting such radical slalom conditions for a long time, was able to secure a highly coveted place on the event's podium.

Today, the last day of the event, the decision will be made in the foil slalom.
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