| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 July 2000 Townsville, Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| Sailing career | |||||||||||||||
| Class | Formula Kite | ||||||||||||||
| Coach | |||||||||||||||
Competition record
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Breiana Whitehead (born 1 July 2000) is an Olympic kitesurfer from Australia. [3] She was the first athlete selected for the Australian team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Whitehead was born in Townsville, Queensland, [4] in 2000. [5] She has one younger brother, Scott Whitehead, who is also a kitesurfer. [6] When she was two years old, their father Murray, who is a boat-builder, began to introduce her to sailing, [7] and she began sailing on her own when she was eight years old. [1] She began racing at the age of ten. [2]
Whitehead received a bronze medal in the 2019 Formula Kite World Championships at Lake Garda, Italy, which was her first medal received in an international competition. [8] [9]
Alongside her brother Scott, Whitehead competed in the 2020 Australian Kitefoiling Championships in Melbourne. She won the teams, women's, and Open National kitefoiling events, [6] and was ranked sixth overall. [10]
Whitehead competed at the 2023 Formula Kite World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, where she placed eleventh, earning a berth for Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. [11]
Whitehead was the overall winner of the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofia (part of the 2024 Sailing World Cup), receiving the gold medal in Women's Formula Kite. She beat the American Daniela Moroz, who took second place, and the German Leonie Meyer, who took third. [12] She finished fifth in the 2024 Formula Kite World Championships in Hyères, France. [13]
She was the first athlete selected for the Australian team [14] for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, [13] which was the first time that kitesurfing was represented as an Olympic sport. [1] She placed 7th in the Women's Formula Kite event. [15]
In 2022, Whitehead graduated from James Cook University with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree. [1] She designs her own boards. [7] [1]
Emma Wilson is a British windsurfer who won a bronze medal in the RS:X event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She won the RS:X events at the Youth Sailing World Championships in 2016 and 2017, and won medals at the 2018 and 2019 RS:X European Championships, and the 2022 and 2023 IQFoil European Championships. She won her second Olympic bronze medal in the iQFoil at the 2024 Paris Games.
Sofia Tomasoni is an Italian kitesurfer and winner of the women's Youth Olympic title in Twin Tip Racing in 2018.
Stephanie Roble is an American sailor who is a Pan American Games medalist and a multi-medalist in the World Championships. She was named 2014 US Sailing Rolex Yachtswoman of Year.
Maximilian Maeder is a Singaporean kitesurfer. He is the reigning Formula Kite World, Asian and European champion and holds the distinction of being the youngest winner in any Olympic sailing class competition, achieving this remarkable feat at the age of 16. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the inaugural men's formula kite event, where he reached the finals and won the bronze medal. Maeder is also a three-time Formula Kite youth world champion in consecutive years from 2021 to 2023 and won various open championships across Europe, Asia and Pan America.
Poema Newland is a French sailor and kitefoiler. She was the European Formula Kite champion in 2021.
Derin Atakan is a Turkish female kitesurfer competing in the Formula Kite class. She qualified to participate at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
Eleanor Aldridge is a British sailor from Dorset who competes in women's kite foiling. She won the 2023 Formula Kite European Championships and took the silver that year in the World Championships. Aldridge won a gold medal in the women's Formula Kite event.
Lauriane Nolot is a French professional surfer. She is a two-time world champion in Formula Kite, winning in both 2023 and 2024. Nolot won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the inaugural women's Formula Kite event.
Daniela Moroz is an American sailor who became the World champion at Formula Kite six times between 2016 and 2022.
Jessie Kampman is a French Formula Kite surfer. She has won silver medals at the European championships and in 2024 she won a world bronze medal.
Julia Damasiewicz is a Polish formula kitesurfer. She was the European champion in 2020.
Jingyue Chen is a Chinese Formula Kite professional athlete who became the Asian, and the Asia & Oceania, champion in 2023.
Leonie Meyer is a German sailor, medical student and prospective Olympic kitesurfer.
Maggie Eillen Pescetto is an Italian Formula Kite sailor who took the silver position at the Kite Open Africa and Middle East Championship in 2022. She was nominated for Olympic competition at formula kite in 2024.
(María) Catalina "Cata" Turienzo is an Argentine kitesurfer who took silver at the 2023 Pan American Games and a place in the 2024 Olympic Games. She was the 2024 Formula Kite Youth World Champion.
Justina Kitchen is a New Zealand Olympic kitefoiler.
Emily Claire Bugeja is a Canadian kitefoiler who was sixth in the Pan American Games in 2023. She was nominated to compete for Canada at the 2024 Olympics.
Elena Lengwiler born Elena Bosshard is a Swiss Ice Hockey player and a nominated kitefoiler for the 24 Olympics. She was fourth in the 2024 European championships and she represents Switzerland in Formula Kite at the 2024 Olympics.
Valentin Bontus is an Austrian kitesurfer. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the inaugural men's formula kite event, where he reached the finals and won the gold medal.
Riccardo Pianosi is an Italian kitesurfer who competes in the Formula Kite category. He won two medals in the Formula Kite World Championship, in 2021 and 2024, and two medals in the Formula Kite European Championship, in 2023 and 2024.
