Itâs first time winners to the fore as Franceâs Manon Costard and Mexicoâs Patricio Font, both stunned the more favoured picks to win the womenâs slalom and menâs tricks titles respectively at the IWWF Waterski World Championships.
For Costard, it is a first ever medal at the world meet after finishing empty handed in five previous meetings.
And she certainly savoured her maiden world title after a stunning display in the womenâs slalom event at the Water Sport Complex, Putrajaya on Saturday.
With defending champion Regina Jaquess having set a really high bar after putting up a run of 3/55/10.75, the pressure was certainly on preliminary leader Costard to step it up.
The 28-year-old, who was last out of the docks, was certainly equalled to the task, tying Jaquessâ score to set up a deciding run-off – reminiscent of the 2017 final in which the American had won after beating out Canadaâs Whitney McClintock-Rini.
But this time, it was the Marseille native who came up tops, putting up a 2/55/10.75 score to better Jaquessâ run of 1/55/10.75 to take the gold while New Zealandâs Jaime Metcalfe took the bronze.
It is Franeâs first individual gold medal since the 2007 world meet and the European nationâs first slalom gold since Sylvie Maurial in 1973.
âIâm just so excited right now and itâs going to be hard to calm down and realise what happened. Iâve been working towards this for years and I worked as hard as I could for this worlds,â said Costard.
âI came into the competition with a lot of confidence but with a lot of stress too and the pressure of going out last from the docks was really intense. Especially since Regina had set such a high bar.
âBut I just focused on myself to ski at my level and Iâm really proud of myself for achieving this.
âIn fact this is my first medal at the worlds. Iâve always done well in pro tournaments but never in world championships.
âI would love to dedicate this win to my dad too. Heâs the one who got me into skiing when I was three but he passed away when I was 11. Heâs the special one and I know heâll be proud as well,â added Costard.
Meanwhile, Jaquessâ failure to defend her slalom gold for a fourth straight world meet is a huge blow to the USâ hopes of retaining their team title.
The 35-year-old who also missed out on the tricks final, also dealt a severe blow in her bid for a fourth straight overall title.
There was however ecstasy in the Mexican camp as 17-year-old Font dished out a dazzling display of tricks to take home Mexicoâs first waterski world title since Alfredo Mendoza in 1955.
With two-time defending champion Adam Pickos of the US dropping out of contention early with a score of 9,260, the world title was up for grabs with Belarusâ Aliaksei Zharnasek, Czech Republicâs Martin Kolman and Franceâs Pierre Ballon all taking the lead at one point.
And Font was simply ice cool and sensational as he went out there and produced a superb score of 11,740 – a new personal best and a new world junior record – to grab the lead.
It was all over minutes later as top seed Danylo Filâchenko succumbed to pressure, falling off on both his passes to hand the victory to Font.
âIâve been here training here for a week prior to this world championship and Iâm glad that everything in practice worked out,â said Font.
âIâm just super happy right now because Iâve spent years dreaming about this moment and I still canât believe itâs true.
âIâm just really pleased that I managed to put this round together with a new personal best and to stand up on both my passes as the final was really insane.â
The last day of the competition on Sunday will see the finals for the menâs slalom and jump and the womenâs tricks and jump.
