2020 RED BULL KING OF THE AIR
Event summary
Jesse Richman is our new 2020 King of the Air!
After a first attempt to start the event on Saturday February 1st was blown off because of the poor wind conditions the Cape Doctor showed mercy to the event organizers and competitors on Thursday Feb. 6th. Early in the morning the wind was already blowing with some strong gusts over kite beach - perfect conditions for the most important big-air contest of the year.
The first qualification rounds were a spectacle with some big names like Aaron Hadlow, Marc Jacobs, Josh Emanuel, Steven Akkersdijk or Lewis Crathern competing against this years new contenders. We’ve seen two major novelties in this year’s line-up. First there was - Angely Bouillot - the first female athlete to compete for the King of the Air. The second special rider we’ve seen this year is strapless legend - Airton Cozzolino - who is the first rider in the world to compete for the King of the Air with no straps. Airton Cozzolino, Angely Bouillot, Luis Alberto Cruz, Oswald Smith, Ryan de Witte and Clement Huot unfortunately didn’t make it to the main event even though Airton scored the highest rated trick in this qualification round - respect!
In round three the top 6 riders from last year were awaiting this years newly qualified riders. Kevin Langeree, Jesse Richman, Nick Jacobsen, Lasse Walker, Liam Whaley and Ross-Dillon Player left no doubt that they were determined to defend their rank. In the semifinals Nick Jacobsen and Liam Whaley battled for the lead. Liam drove technically excellent and called off all his skills. Megaloop rotations, board-offs, handlepasses - you can hardly do better. Nick countered with some really high jumps and his elegant style. Undoubtedly this was the best heat of the day and with 9.02 points Nick secured the best trick of the day. Marc Jacobs couldn’t beat Jesse but was awarded the “Woo Highest Jump of the Day” for his 22.2m jump in the semi-finals. Nevertheless Steve Akkersdijk’s showed an excellent performance it wasn’t enough to compete against Aarons technicality.
Jesse, Nick and Aaron competed in the final heat and it was a frenzy! Stylistically very different and technically on an enormously high level, the lead changed constantly amongst the competitors and the scores were incredibly close. We’ve seen some truly spectacular tricks in this final heat. At the end Jesse Richman soared with 34.10 points past his rivals Nick Jacobsen (31.52 points) and Aaron Hadlow (29.94 points) to be crowned (or masked) 2020 King of the Air. By the way, did you know that each unique Red Bull King of the Air trophy has its own tale? Read more about the story of each mask.
Congrats to everyone and see you at the 2021 King of the Air!
Listen to the interview with this years winner the Hawain Jesse Richman on Kitesurf365:
Watch The replay of the Semi finals and Final
Leaderboard
Wind conditions on Thursday February 6th at Cape Town Kite Beach
Top 6 riders from the 2020 King of the Air
The contenders
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool
Rider Stats
Age
Country
Gender
Brand
KOTA Experience
Dirty Car Confessions from 2020 King of the Air
More Videos from 2020 King of the Air
Photo gallery
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool
INstaKing of the Air
Contest Venue
Kite Beach, Table View, Cape Town, South Africa (check out our Cape Town spot guide)