The French double world champion of bodyboard Amaury Lavernhe won the first stage of the world tour in Chile this weekend.
In the final, the French rider blew his opponent away, earning the maximum score of 20 out of 20.
While the discipline seeks to renew itself in France, three French athletes have managed to climb into the top five.
He was going to Chile with the intention of doing well for the return of the world tour.
Saturday, Amaury Lavernhe did better than that.
In waves of about three meters with sumptuous curves, the French bodyboarder achieved a perfect final which allowed him to obtain the unbeatable score of 20 out of 20. The rider from Reunion pocketed the first stage of the world tour in the process. which took place in Arica, Chile, after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We reached him on the phone while he was on a layover in the hubbub of Santiago airport, where he was lugging his two old Sniper boards.
“I'm going there with the ambition of making at least a top 5. I feel like I'm at my best level since I started.
But it's hard to judge because we haven't had a competition for so long.
»
Opposed to the South African Tristan Roberts in the final, the French double world champion slammed a first 10 out of 10 on his first wave by taking a huge ultra-fast tube which launched him perfectly.
A gesture that he had already succeeded in the semi-final against his compatriot Maxime Castillo, revelation of this competition.
The man nicknamed “Moz” repeated the feat a few minutes later for his fourth wave in a final that he outrageously dominated.
Without pressure, the French athlete even had fun by offering himself a new tube in which he was able to send a 360 degrees to complete his dream morning.
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
By clicking on "
I ACCEPT
", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners
I ACCEPT
And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
Already a winner in 2014 in Arica, the French bodyboarder is launching his season perfectly.
The 36-year-old dad even offers himself the luxury of missing the second round of this world tour, which has eight.
He will not go to Iquique (Chile) in order to spend time in the Canary Islands, where his family lives.
“It's impossible for me to be absent for two months.
I prefer to choose certain stages”.
A little-known sport, in the shadow of surfing
Beyond the family, it is also a financial question for these athletes, who struggle to live from their discipline, little known and which suffers, in the shadow of surfing.
At the beginning of the year, the French Ministry of Sports even decided to remove bodyboarding from the list of high-level sports, at the same time depriving riders of precious subsidies.
By placing three French people among the top five, the French bodyboarders responded in the best possible way.
Sport
In the shadow of surfing, the hugely popular bodyboard struggles to resurface
Sport
Brittany: The mysterious Annaëlle is one of the most dangerous waves in Europe
Sport
Surf
Vague
Sea
Chile
Extreme sport