Japan Claims First Team Relay Gold Medal at 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship

Japan jumps to second in Team rankings, starts closing the gap on Spain’s massive lead

Five-time ISA World Champion Casper Steinfath closes storied career with relay performance for Team Denmark

Copenhagen – September 19, 2024

Japan powered through to their first Team Relay victory on day three of the 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC). Another sunny Copenhagen afternoon delivered beautiful conditions, though light onshore winds created the most texture of the event so far, providing a slight extra challenge for the world’s best paddlers as they competed together for their teams.

The Team Relay Race featured 15 nations, initially split into two Semifinals. A SUP and Paddleboard racer of each gender made up the teams of four, with each athlete completing one lap of the course before tagging their next teammate into the race.

After medaling in the Team Relay every event since 2019, Japan won the single medal that had so far eluded them, the Gold. The team conserved some energy in their Semifinal, allowing Spain to take the win. But in the Final they did not hold back.

Their men’s paddleboarder, So Nomura (JPN), found an immediate breakaway after a clean start and only increased the lead over the course of his lap, gaining 4 seconds ahead of France in second. Women’s SUP racer Rika Okuaki (JPN) maintained a similar lead, before two-time Paddleboard Distance Race World Champion Yurika Horibe (JPN) increased the lead to 6 seconds.

Meanwhile, newly crowned three-time Paddleboard Technical Race World Champion Judit Verges (ESP) overtook France’s Elise Daudignon to put Spain into second, 6 seconds ahead of France by the end of the third lap.

Japan’s final tag, from Horibe to Rai Taguchi (JPN), saw the final leg raced in men’s SUP. Taguchi flew off the block in full sprint stance, far ahead of the field. Spain’s Manuel Hoyuela managed to gain some ground in the middle of the lap, but the Japanese hadn’t completely switched into gear yet. Saving his fastest run for the final stretch, Taguchi powered home to win the Gold Medal for Japan a full 8 seconds ahead of Spain, who won the Silver Medal. The back-to-back defending champions, France, won the Bronze Medal, while USA took the Copper.

“This gold medal isn’t just for today’s team,” Horibe said. “It’s for every Japanese team that has ever competed in the World Championships, including our coach, Suzuki-san. This victory belongs to all the Team Japans of the past.”

Denmark’s hero of the sport, five-time ISA World Champion Casper Steinfath, performed in his final race today. Though he had mostly already stepped away from competing, the 31-year-old was yet to have a definitive moment in moving into retirement and used the opportunity of the ISA’s return to Denmark to support his beloved nation one last time before walking away. Huge cheers came from the crowd as they witnessed Steinfath’s incredible speed on the water one last time, and the emotions were strong on the sand upon his arrival.

“I never really envisioned the day that I would be ending my career,” Steinfath said. “But I’m just very thankful to get to finish my 15-year Stand-Up Paddle race career here in Denmark in home waters. It’s been an individual pursuit on the water for me as an athlete, but there’s always a team behind and very thankful to get to finish it off with a Danish relay team. It was a dream come true to finish here in Denmark and I’m full of emotions in all directions right now. It’s surreal.”

Competition will resume Saturday, September 21 at Den Sorte Diamant at 1:00 pm CEST with the Distance Races.

RESULTS

Team Relay
Gold – Japan
Silver – Spain
Bronze – France
Copper – USA