Duotone DRIVEN Magazine No.04

Congratulations on your title, Gianmaria! A dream come true, right!? Thanks! Yes, it was my dream to become World Champion from day one. When I started kiteboarding in 2011, I was already totally in love with Freestyle. My best friend back then was a freestyler, and I always admired this sport. So, you started kiteboarding over 10 years ago? Exactly. After a family holiday in Sicily in 2011, I had the chance to stay on the island and work at a kite school in exchange for accommodation and the possibility to go kiting every day. That was the beginning. Back then, I started to train with the very clear goal of becoming a World Champion one day. And you never left Sicily after that, right? Haha, no, I didn’t. It became my home base and is until today. But in the beginning, it was tough. For a few years, I slept in a tent during summer as well as winter. I was 18 years old, working hard, and never really had any money. I sacrificed everything to be able to train and progress in kiting. After 6 months, I landed all the basic tricks – enough to compete in the Italian Championships. Starting his kiteboarding career rather late, Ginamaria Coccoluto has been shaking up the Freestyle scene for quite a while now. In 2022 he became GKA FrestyleWorld Champion. We sat down with him to talk about life goals, setbacks and what it takes to realize your dreams. Now you achieved your dream, after 10 years. What did it take? Actually, in my imagination, I should’ve already been World Champion 5 years ago. I was doing tricks no one had done before, and I was pushing really hard. I felt I was ready. But as often in competitions, there are things you can’t influence, like the wind or the chop. Additionally, I felt a lot of pressure and didn’t have much competition experience. In short: I was not able to perform the way I did when training. That was a very big challenge for me which I first had to overcome. How did it feel, working hard, riding at such a good level but not being able to achieve your goal? Oh, I had so many bad days… so much frustration. I felt like everyone was watching me, expecting good results, but I just couldn’t live up to their expectations. I had so much pressure on me. I didn’t want to disappoint my sponsors or my family. So many times, I was really close to winning the competition, but then, always in the final heat, I made a mistake, not taking the win after all. But I never gave up! I tried to keep a strong mindset, telling myself, “your time will come, just believe in it!” It must have been such a great validation for all the work you had done when you won the GKAWorld Tour 2022. Hell yes! It sure was. It was the greatest feeling ever. The final stop that year was in Taiba, Brazil. It’s my favorite place where I go every winter for training. Taiba also was the spot where in 2018, I managed to land the first Front Blind Mobe 5 that was ever landed in kiteboarding history. This had to be a good omen. And sure it was. The same tricks I had landed in the same square of water in 2018 actually made me win the stop, thus becoming World Champion. I had the best session of my life, taking 2× 10 points and 2× 9.6 points, almost 40 points in total – the best heat in kiteboarding Freestyle history. Finally, I could show the whole world that I, indeed, was able to claim the title after all these years and all the training. After so many years in kiteboarding, what’s the most important thing for you considering training? The most important part for me is to actually take time to rest. After a long season of pushing the level of tricks and landings, and of course, taking all the crashes that come with it, I usually completely stop kiting for 2 months to give my body time to recover. And then there’s meditation which is key for me. Especially when stopping to kite for a longer period. I keep training my mind by watching my videos every single day. It is like doing a mind session. And it works. Once I am back on the water, it feels more like a break of a few days than a few months. What advice would you give to young talents who like you want to reach the top? What does it take? First and most importantly: Never stop school just for kiting! You have time. I’m the best example. I started kiting when I was already 18 years old. And second: Believe in yourself when people around you say you will never make it. Put passion, love, and time into it, and NO ONE will stop you! After achieving your dream of becomingWorld Champion, what other dreams do you have left? Another dream always was to open a kite center in Sicily. I have been with Duotone forever, even before my sponsorship. You won’t believe it, but my first water start was with an old 2008 VEGAS. So having opened a Duotone Pro Center together with my partners in 2021 was the cherry on the cake. That leaves only one dream unfulfilled, and this is my deepest: becoming 3× World Champion. So watch out; I am working on it already! GIANMARIA COCCOLUTO GKA FREESTYLE WORLD CHAMPION Photos  Andre Magara Interview  Laura Alexy T H E T E A M 1 00 D R I V E N D R I V E N 1 0 1