Note written and presented by the International Surfing Association
All photos: ISA/Jimenez/Evans

Brazil's Arthur Santacreu and South Africa's Tarryn King respectively won the Men's and Women's SUP Sprint Gold Medals at the ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship in Wanning, China.

King's impressive performance earned her South Africa's first ever Gold Medal. Just a year after giving birth, she proved to be at world-class level and celebrated on the beach alongside her husband Thomas King and their 1-year-old son.

The USA took home two Bronze Medals during the Sprint Races and the Australian team only one Copper, which gives the US team a further lead in the rankings with five medals still to be determined.

Team New Zealand jumped into third place thanks to Trevor Tunnington's Silver Medal, closely followed by Team France and Spain.

Following the morning's Quarterfinals and Semifinals, the Men's Finals saw Arthur Santacreu (BRA), Connor Baxter (USA), Kenny Kaneko (JPN), Trevor Tunnington (NZL), Noic Gariou (FRA), and Claudio Nika (ITA).

Brazilian Santacreu continued his dominance in the previous heats, finishing in first place and winning Gold in the Final.

“I am very grateful,” Santacreu said. “All the training has worked very well.

“My team really knows how to motivate me. Their support has been fundamental in my Gold Medal.”

New Zealander Trevor Tunnington followed with silver, American Connor Baxter with bronze and 16-year-old Frenchman Noic Gariou with copper.

One of the names missing from the Final was the Danish 2017 Gold Medallist Casper Steinfath, who missed out on making it to the Final by just three-tenths of a second.

The Women's SUP Sprint Final closed out the day of action pitting 2017 Silver Medalist Amandine Chazot of France, Italy's Caterina Stenta, USA's Jade Howson, South Africa's King, Australia's Terrene Black, and Japan's Yuka Sato.

King built up a significant lead and crossed the finish line first as her entire team cheered her on from the beach.

“I’ve put in a lot of time and training,” King said. “I’m very excited.

“Winning Gold in the Sprints has been a dream come true.

“It’s been a long road from giving birth to becoming a World Champion. I stayed fit during pregnancy and once I gave birth I came back pretty quickly. I really focused on coming to compete at the ISA and it’s paid off.”

The Silver, Bronze and Copper Medals were so close that they had to be decided after a review. Stenta took the Silver Medal, Howson the Bronze and Black the Copper.

With two days left to finish the event, the Long Distance Races and Relays will close the event and determine the 2018 World Champion Team.

The schedule for the rest of the event is as follows:

Shenzhou Peninsula
December 1 – Long Distance Races
December 2 – Relay Races, Closing Ceremony

Results of the day
SUP Sprint Men
Gold – Arthur Santacreu (BRA)
Silver – Trevor Tunnington (NZL)
Bronze – Connor Baxter (USA)
Copper – Noic Gariou (FRA)

SUP Sprint Women
Gold – Tarryn King (RSA)
Silver – Caterina Stenta (ITA)
Bronze – Jade Howson (USA)
Copper – Terrene Black (AUS)