Elia Colombo
I was born in Lugano and grew up in Bironico, a small hamlet in the municipality of Monteceneri. At the age of six, I became acquainted with the exciting world of sailing at the Circolo Velico Lago di Lugano. As a child, I played many sports at a competitive level, including downhill skiing, ice hockey, cycling, sailing and windsurfing.
As a member of the Circolo Velico Lago di Lugano sailing club, I started racing on Optimist boats, then Laser and 420. At the age of 15, I decided to leave sailing disciplines to focus solely on windsurfing. The incredible sensations this sport conveys have led me to spend more and more days on the water every year. This passion was soon followed by excellent results at national and international level. In fact, there are numerous Swiss overall champion titles as well as podiums at international regattas in youth categories.
In the following years I competed on the professional circuit in the disciplines of Formula Windsurfing and Slalom. My most excellent results came in Formula Windsurfing with a 3rd place at the World Championships in 2022 and 5th and 8th places in 2018 and 2019. As a result of my excellent results, I was selected at the end of 2020 as one of three Swiss athletes (encompassing the entire sailing scene) for the Best Swiss Sailor award for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. 2023 was a year of great satisfaction. In June I won the title of Windsurfing Foil 2023 World Champion in Torbole, in the beautiful setting of Lake Garda.
In July I was selected as a representative for Switzerland to participate in the Marseille IQ Foil Test Event, an event organised as a dress rehearsal for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Here, after finishing 10th overall, I was given the green light to take part in the World Championships in the Netherlands where the 12 passes available for the Paris 2024 Olympics were up for grabs.
In August, with my 21st place in the World Championships in Holland, I secured the 11th of the 12 available Olympic places. Thanks to this result, I was able to guarantee Switzerland's presence at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the new discipline of IQ FOIL.
The year 2024 started a little bit uphill with the IQFoil World Championship in Lanzarote (Spain) where, after three days of racing in which I was placed 6th, I had to withdraw due to an injury that occurred during a regatta.
I finished the two World Cup stages in Palma de Majorca in Spain and Hyères in France in 26th and 11th place, respectively.
The next three months will be devoted to testing the Olympic material with which I will compete in Paris and finalizing my training. |
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