Boothy and Sonni make history as ICF’s First SUP World Champions
Australia’s Michael Booth and Germany’s Sonni Honscheid had to call on all their experience in tough racing conditions to become the first ever ICF stand up paddling world champions on Friday.
Here are the full Results, Live Streams, Video Interviews and Video Summary of Day 1 of the 2019 ICF SUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Qingdao, China !
Strong winds made the race a challenge for the top international field. Several of the athletes described the conditions as ‘brutal’, forcing Booth and Honscheid to dig deep to wear down their closest rivals.
Booth came to Qingdao with a long list of SUP titles to his name, and looked to put his stamp on the ICF long distance race from the start. But it took him well into the final circuit of the three-lap race to see off the challenge of Hungary’s Hasulyo brothers, Bruno and Daniel.
“It’s awesome to be able to call yourself a world champion, and to be the first ever ICF world champion is pretty special. No-one will be able to take that away from me,” Booth said. “I had a really good race, I just stayed in there, I didn’t lead too much, but led enough to be still pulling enough to see what the guys were doing. “Daniel and Bruno raced absolutely fantastic, and I had to throw my dice right at the end there and I just got away. But I knew if I made just one mistake, Bruno would have got me. “I nearly had a fall right there at the end, and that would have been it. You want these moments, you want to win, and I’m just really happy to have got it done on the day.”
Bruno Hasulyo finished second, 13 seconds behind booth, with brother Daniel a further 20 seconds back in third.
The rough racing conditions caused carnage in the women’s race, with almost half the field unable to finish. But the turbulent ocean suited Sonni Honscheid, who found herself leading for most of the race.
Only France’s Olivia Piana was able to hold on to the German, but when Honscheid popped the question on the final lap, the Frenchwoman was unable to match the challenge.
“I still can’t believe it, I think it has to sink in still, I feel like I’m floating in the clouds,” Honscheid said. “It was a great race, I had a lot of fun, I felt strong all the way. I was looking back quite a few times, because anything can still happen, even in the last few metres of a race you still can make a mistake. I almost fell one time, so I really just had to focus on myself. “Just coming here to Qingdao, and paddling in this place, there is a very special energy.I really enjoy paddling on the open ocean. I’m not the sort of person who likes to race in small places. I still love it as much as the first day I started.”
Piana finished a clear second, with USA’s Fiona Wylde picking up the bronze medal.
Japan picked up triple gold in the age division long races, with Rai Taguchi and Kei Komatsuyama taking the top two positions in the men’s juniors, Miu Kogai finishing ahead of New Zealand’s Brianna Orams and China’s Shujing Lai in the women’s juniors, and Takayo Yokoyama winning the women’s 40+.
Canada’s Tamas Buday, who spent the lead-up as one of the instructors at the ICF SUP development camp, took gold in the men’s 40+, Israel’s Ofir Ram took the men’s 50+ title, and host nation China celebrated gold in the women’s 50+ through Jie Tao.
Results of Day 1 Long Distance of the ICF World SUP Championships 2019
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Open Women
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Open Men
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Junior Women
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Open Men
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Master 40+ Women
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Master 40+ Men
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Master 50+ Women
ICF SUP Worlds – Long Distance – Master 50+ Men
ICF WORLD SUP CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 – Day 1 – Live Feeds & Videos
Long Distance – Open
Long Distance – Juniors, Master 40+, Master 50+
Long Distance – Top Men’s Finish
Long Distance – Top Women’s Finish
Interview of Sonni Honscheid – Gold Medal – ICF LONG DISTANCE WORLD CHAMPION
Interview of Michael Booth – Gold Medal – ICF LONG DISTANCE WORLD CHAMPION
If there’s one word coming to mind when thinking of the SUP sensation Rai Taguchi, is RELENTLESS. His explosive comeback from the fall and exceptional buoy turn in the men’s Sprint final at the APP World Tour’s Busan stop went viral and the SUP world is paying close attention. With the industry being positively shaken […]
Over the past month, Starboard has been working hard behind the curtains to present a very competitive line-up of international athletes for 2023. With future recruitment announcements by the Tiki brand still on hold (drums…), 3 athletes and 1 adventurer have already been announced to make their entrance in the Dream Team: SUP racers Alba […]
International SUP, FOIL & Wing Foil brand SIC has revealed its SUP Race Team for 2023. While two young SUP racers, Rai Taguchi (he is currently assessing offers from various brands) and Bodie Von Allmen (recruited by team NSP), are no longer part of SIC’s Global Team after years of being nurtured by the historic […]
The wait has been longer than usual but it has been worth it! Starboard’s 2023 SUP Race Range is finally out after another very successful year for the Tiki brand with numerous world titles in many age categories and under different federations and competitions. Starboard’s 2023 All Star and Sprint boards won 7 gold medals […]
“This year has been awesome and I am so grateful for all the support I have received! That’s why I’ve decided to do this giveaway and give back to my fantastic community of paddlers!” said Michael Booth, 6 x SUP World Champion, Starboard Dream Team Rider, Founder and Coach of BOOTH Training. TotalSUP caught up […]
The below Q&A session is between Aussie SUPerstar and Starboard dream team rider Michael Booth and Chris Jones, administrator of the SUP My Race group on Facebook which was created a few years ago to challenge SUP racers to paddle a little further each month and entice them to post their paddling sessions and mileages. Michael […]
Between October 28 and November 6 you could follow the action of the 2022 Puerto Rico ISA World SUP & Paddleboard Championships here with TotalSUP! As Official Media Partner of the #ISAWSUPP, TotalSUP broadcasted all the livestreams both on our website and on the TotalSUP Facebook page with daily results, video highlights and Instagram stories. If […]
2022 Busan SUP Open is one for the books. The 3rd stop of the APP World Tour in South Korea has been one of those events on this year’s SUP racing circuit that has showed what stand-up paddleboarding Olympics could look like with drones illuminating the sky in a spectacular opening ceremony to display the […]
The inaugural edition of the Busan SUP Open, the APP World Tour’s Stop #3 in Korea delivered spectacular action and brought together the local SUP race community this past weekend on Gwangalli Beach. With the Gwangalli Bridge as a backdrop, SIC team rider from Japan Rai Taguchi makes a clean sweep and Danish new superstar […]