Bulgarian teen kiteboarder makes history with Big Air world ranking breakthrough

Kiteboarder Aya Kasabova became the first Bulgarian to reach the top 3 of the world rankings in the women's Big Air discipline on Monday. The 15-year-old won silver medal at GKA Kite World Tour's second Big Air World Cup on the Greek island Mykonos where Kasabova was surpassed only by Brazilian world champion Mikaili Sol.

After the event, the young Bulgarian has a total of 1,370 ranking points – 500 less than Sol and 130 less than German Alessa Sophia Mensch, CE Report quotes BTA.

Big Air is known as the kiteboarding’s most extreme discipline in which competitors utilize strong wind to perform high jumps combined with complex air tricks such as kiteloops and inverted rotations. Both jumps’ height and technical complexity of the performed elements undergo assessment, as air balancing and landing quality are also taken into consideration by each competitor’s evaluation.

Kasabova is four-time girls' world champion in various disciplines, winning her first tile at the age of 12. As for her next goal, Kasabova aims at winning the gold at the women's World Championships.

Photo: Instagram