CLASS ACTS OF 2019
VALENTIN RODRIGUEZ
MEN’S GKA FREESTYLE WORLD CHAMPION
The 17-year-old Colombian won the world title in his first full season on tour, eventually prevailing over his closest rival, Adeuri Corniel, in the season’s ultimate final in Cumbuco, Brazil.
The rookie had announced his arrival onto the world stage by claiming third step at the first event of the GKA Freestyle season in Leucate, France in April. A brace of lower wind events in Gran Canaria and Tarifa followed which saw the quarter finalists share points before Valentin scored his lowest finish of the season; seventh at round four in Fuerteventura. After that the young Colombian really found his feet, finishing second to Adeuri by a fraction of a point in Mauritius before then claiming back-to-back wins at the last two events of the season, in Dakhla and Brazil.
Where other title contenders crumbled under the end-of-season pressure, Valentin turned the screw, finding more and more power with consistency. Of slighter build than most of his competitors, somehow the physics of his technique and perseverance outweighed the importance of obvious sheer strength and his final heat in Brazil was made up of three nine point
