The knee holds up: Olympic champion Bontus returns before Christmas

Bontus spent many hours on the water in the Canary Islands under the guidance of his trainer Luca Bursic. “After the long break due to injury, I started so motivated that Luca almost had to slow me down. But the feeling was just super cool, the race feeling was there again from the first moment.” He was able to train and surf without pain, which gave him a lot of self-confidence, said the Lower Austrian, who won gold at the 2024 Olympics in France. Bontus is preparing for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles together with the American Noah Runciman as a training partner.

A wide variety of material tests were also carried out on Fuerteventura. “We had different kites and foils with us, tried a few things here and there and collected comparative values. But this time the focus was on the hours on the water.” The kite surfer spends Christmas in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Kitzbühel with his wife Martina before heading to Cape Town in South Africa for the New Year.