Breiana Whitehead
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 2000 (age 23–24) Townsville, Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| Sailing career | |||||||||||||||
| Class | Formula Kite | ||||||||||||||
| Coach | |||||||||||||||
Competition record
| |||||||||||||||
Breiana Whitehead (born 2000) is an Olympic kitesurfer from Australia.[3]
Early life[edit]
Whitehead was born in Townsville, Queensland,[4] in 2000.[5] She has one younger brother, Scott Whitehead, who is also a kitesurfer.[6] When she was two years old, their father Murray, who is a boat-builder, began to introduce her to sailing,[7] and she began sailing on her own when she was eight years old.[1] She began racing at the age of ten.[2]
Career[edit]
2019[edit]
Whitehead received a bronze medal in the 2019 Formula Kite World Championships at Lake Garda, Italy, which was her first medal received in an international competition.[8][9]
2020[edit]
Alongside her brother Scott, Whitehead competed in the 2020 Australian Kitefoiling Championships in Melbourne. She won the teams, women's, and Open National kitefoiling events,[6] and was ranked sixth overall.[10]
2023[edit]
Whitehead competed at the 2023 Formula Kite World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, where she placed eleventh, earning a berth for Australia at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[11]
2024[edit]
Whitehead was the overall winner of the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofia (part of the 2024 Sailing World Cup), receiving the gold medal in Women's Formula Kite.[12] She finished fifth in the 2024 Formula Kite World Championships in Hyeres, France.[13]
She was the first athlete selected for the Australian team[14] for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris,[13] which will be the first time that kitesurfing is represented as an Olympic sport.[1]
Personal life[edit]
In 2022, Whitehead graduated from James Cook University with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree.[1] She designs her own boards.[7][1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "'Inspiring' Aussie scientist creates Olympic history". Nine. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ a b "World Sailing - Breiana Whitehead". World Sailing. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Breiana Whitehead - it feels like you're flying on top of the water". ABC listen. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ Team, Australian Sailing-. "Get to know Kite Foil Racing and Australia's Breiana Whitehead". www.australiansailingteam.com.au. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Rankings". www.formulakite.org. Archived from the original on 29 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ a b "'It's not really for everyone': Kite-foiling siblings aim for Paris 2024 Olympics". ABC News. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Diab Case study - Breiana Whitehead – the quest to create the gold-medal-winning board". www.diabgroup.com. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ claudiab (14 May 2019). "Formula Kite World Championships 2019, Italy". FLYSURFER. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Tight racing in perfect conditions at Europeans leaves little to choose between top of order - Welcome to the IKA Formula Kite Class". www.formulakite.org. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ Australia, Kiteboarding. "Australian Kitefoiling Championships at Sail Melbourne finished in ideal Melbourne conditions - Results". www.kiteboardingaus.com.au. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Sailing World Championships 2023, The Hague: IQFoil titles for van Opzeeland and Tibi, as Nolot and Maeder win kite golds". Olympics. 19 August 2023.
- ^ Nalwala, Ali Asgar (6 April 2024). "Trofeo Princesa Sofía 2024 sailing: Australia's Breiana Whitehead wins gold medal; Zoe Thomson bags silver". Olympics.
- ^ a b "Breiana Whitehead shows she's a strong contender for Paris 2024". www.sail-world.com. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ "Olympics medal hopeful Whitehead gets confidence boost with Formula Kite victory at prestigious Spanish event". ABC News. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.