Tristan Roberts, Teresa Almeida, Yoshua Toledo, Carolina Botteri, and Amaury Lavernhe have claimed the five individual gold medals on offer at the 2014 ISA World Bodyboard Championship, held in Iquique, Chile.
Five bodyboarders from five different countries claimed top honours on the last day of competition. Tristan Roberts, from South Africa, stole the show in the Open Men's division.
"Words cannot describe how I feel right now. I was down after losing my Junior title in the last minutes, so I went to this heat and gave it all, and it paid off. I'm very happy! Thanks to all the South Africans back home for all your messages and all the South African team for their support," expressed Roberts.
Teresa Almeida, from Portugal, defeated defending champion Neymara Carvalho, Anne Cecile Lacoste and Yuleiner Gonzalez in the Open Women's category. She was ecstatic after leaving the water.
"I still don't believe that I won, but I'm really happy. My strategy was to get a good wave fast to control the heat and choose the best waves. Thanks to everyone at home for their support!," added Almeida.
Amaury Lavernhe, the 2014 APB World Tour champion, won a precious gold medal in the Drop Knee competition. The French ride ended the final tied with Cesar Bauer, but Lavernhe's higher individual wave score secured him the trophy.
"It was teamwork. I was out there by myself but with all the guys at the beach screaming and singing, so I'm happy. I've been doing a lot of Drop Knee in the last two months, so I'm very stoked with the result. This is a big day for bodyboarding and for the ISA!," concluded Amaury Lavernhe.
Yoshua Toledo, 17, conquered the first ever ISA gold medal for Chile, in the Under 18 Boys. Peru's Carolina Botteri took the Under 18 Girls division. Team Chile claimed the gold medal.
2014 ISA World Bodyboard Championship | Final Team Standings
1. Chile - 8,738
2. France - 8,565
3. South Africa - 8,336
4. Portugal - 7,227
5. Peru - 7,052
6. Brazil - 6,504
7. Venezuela - 6,361
8. Costa Rica - 5,506
9. Argentina - 5,050
10. Ecuador - 4,950
11. Puerto Rico - 3,670
12. México - 1,980
13. Panamá - 1,170