Bruna Kajiya won the women's event at the GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup finale in Ilha do Guajiru, Brazil, and with it her seventh freestyle kite world title. The decision came in the women's final, the last heat of the 2026 season. She sealed it in front of her home crowd.
The last heat of the season settled it
The GKA Kite World Tour returned to Ilha do Guajiru for the final stop of the year, its first visit since 2020. The event ran from 21 to 24 October 2026 at Hura Beach, where the crowds gathered. The women's fleet brought a wave of new names to face established stars, among them Kajiya, Claudia León and Francesca Bagnoli.
Twenty-four men and 14 women registered to compete. The wind picked up for the women's opening rounds, and every rider felt it. Kajiya dominated her early heats as the reigning world champion.
León landed the highest-scoring trick of round three and advanced to the semi-finals. In round four, Matilda Roux and Francesca Bagnoli took a second chance through the repechage, while Maria Novikova and Taisia Safronova claimed the last two semi-final places.
Phoebe Rocher took the last final place, reaching her first ever final against Bagnoli, León and Kajiya. Kajiya opened strongly and took an early lead with a solid run of tricks. Her clean execution made her very hard to catch.
A perfect season, closed on home water
Heading into the final round, León had climbed into second place, while Bagnoli could not respond and finished fourth with Rocher third. The win completed a perfect 2026 season, with Kajiya taking all three events on the calendar. Her final-day result placed her first overall, ahead of Claudia León and Martyna Konkel of Poland.
The seventh title was claimed on home water, where she had entered as the reigning world champion. On the men's side, Maxime Chabloz of Switzerland took the title, with Karim Mahmoud of Egypt second for the best result of his career. The finale set the stage for the 2027 season.
