Brazil’s nine-time World Champion bounced back from loss at ‘freezing’ Lords of Tram to take title in Mykonos
Brazil’s Mikaili Sol just landed her ninth World Championship title when she won the season finale at GKA Big Air Kite World Cup in Mykonos, Greece, after losing the opener at Lords of Tram. For Sol, 21, it is her fourth Big Air crown, to add to four Freestyle titles and a GKA Air Games title. She talked to Adrian Kerr on the KiteSurf365 podcast about why Big Air re-energised her, that winning the women’s crown at Red Bull King of the Air is not the be-all and end-all, and how partner Sofia Monti is her rock.
KiteSurf365: You got your ninth world title in Mykonos. It seemed like you were going to crush the competition?
Mika Sol: I think that was the biggest thing for me. I was just really enjoying myself. It made all the difference and you’re seeing it in my riding. I was smiling.
KS365: Was there a bit of you that wanted to get back for the loss at Lords of Tram?
MS: No. I was just happy that I wasn’t freezing to death. At LoT it wasn’t that I wasn’t motivated. I hadn’t really trained. The whole Cape Town season I’d just been jumping and not looping. I went to LoT super, super unprepared; like not really knowing what my strategy was. The first day when I went on the water I looked at Sof and said, ‘I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do.’
KS365: In Mykonos you were more prepared. You’d been training in Tarifa and you busted out the “Shark Attack” [trick]?
MS: I only learned how to do that trick three days before the comp. In the comp that was probably the worst one I’d done.
KS365: You were happy and smiling. How does it feel like that going into the final?
MS: Emotions were high. I wanted to win. But I knew if I landed the tricks I wanted, I was golden. So it was mainly just putting the scores on the board.
KS365: With nine world titles in Big Air and Freestyle, do you think that shows you as a complete rider? Do you think you’ve broken away from Freestyle Mika?
MS: Freestyle Mika pushed me into the kiting world. But Big Air Mika re-formed me. I was so young before. I was still learning, but now being 21, almost 22, I’m starting to become myself. Now, looking back at the early interviews, I’m really happy with the person I’ve become.
KS365: Do you feel then that the Red Bull ‘Queen of the Air’ crown is the missing piece of the puzzle?
MS: I don’t know. In Kota the men have 18 riders. The women’s fleet doesn’t have so much value. You do two heats. If you win one, you go to the final. The women’s fleet is not so big. They need to make it at least 12 women. I wouldn’t say I’m dying to win it. It’s cool, but I don’t feel I need to prove something by winning that event. It would be nice. It’s on my bucket list for sure, but I don’t really need to win it.
KS365: Looking back, how have you overcome the difficult times?
MS: Sof helped me a lot, to be honest. She’s just always there for me. I’m super-proud of the fact that I have never had a really, really serious surgery-injury for such a long career. It’s quite impressive. I know so many people who blew out their knees, their shoulders. It’s a given in Freestyle. But it was good to take a bit of time off as well. I didn’t really kite that much. I was doing a bit of strapless because it has less impact. I was sad that I couldn’t kite 100 percent, so I was taking some time for myself. It put me in a relaxed state because I had just been so ‘go, go, go’ for so long that having this time was a good break. I didn’t have to do this if I didn’t feel like it. If you don’t feel good, if you’re not in the right headspace, you’re going to dig your own grave.
KS365: Were you pushing a little bit too hard?
MS: I love competing. Competing brings out the best in me. I tried Strapless, Freestyle and Big Air all at the same time. I think the disciplines are just so different, that to be good at one thing you need to only do that.
KS365: When you look at Freestyle and see Bruna Kajiya still doing, do you wish you were back there?
MS: Not really. I put Freestyle behind me. Not in a bad way, but I’ve been there, done that. I don’t feel I need to be there. When me, Nathalie [Lambrecht] Pippa [van Iersel] and everyone was doing it and pushing the level, it was so high. Then everyone left [for Big Air]. Freestyle was not giving us what we needed. Now Freestyle is so small, there’s no progression.
images: Samuel Cárdenas