Aaron Hadlow of Great Britain retained his King of the Air kiteboarding title in dramatic style in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday (7 February). Huge waves and strong winds made for a superb spectacle in front of 13,000 spectators on the Big Bay beach, with Hadlow's precision impressing the judges to put him ahead of Jesse Richman of the United States and Kevin Langeree of the Netherlands. The Dutchman had some compensation for his third place by taking the competition's Mystic Best Move with his kiteloop front roll inverted one foot in the semi-final.

Hadlow was delighted with his win in the conditions. "That combination of the strong wind and big, big waves, I mean, I was out the back going up ramps for a long time before I took off, and in this case, so much higher, it puts the timing out a little bit. So you've really got to adjust and navigate the ocean a lot better. But it was an epic final day, that's for sure," he said.

Hadlow is the first man to win the King of the Air title twice.

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