World Championship iQFOiL: With a clear head and downwind dominance - World Championship bronze for "Resi" Steinlein

The first world champions of the Olympic windsurfing discipline iQFOil have been crowned in the new Olympic cycle and the first world championship medals have been awarded. Theresa Steinlein won one of them after an outstanding week at the World Championships in the Danish waters of Aarhus. It is the best result of her career after sixth place at her Olympic premiere in Marseille last summer. The 23-year-old windsurfer from Wörthsee has worked hard for her place on the World Championship podium.

Windsurfer Steinlein: fitter, stronger, faster

She is even fitter, stronger and faster than a year ago at her rousing Olympic debut, which she finished in sixth place in Marseille. Only switching from sailing to surfboard in 2020 after a test with her twin sister Sophie Steinlein's surf equipment (Kiel Week runner-up in the 49erFX) and "love at first ride", Theresa Steinlein has firmly established herself among the world's best five years later. She has now demonstrated this impressively at the World Championship of the Olympic iQFOiL best in Denmark.

Almost the entire range of knots was on offer: first there were light and shifty winds, as well as long waiting days and cancellations. The final then came with significantly more pressure, but also some nasty wind holes. At times during the medal series there were winds of 20 knots and more. If you wanted to make it onto the podium at the iQFOiL World Championship, you had to master everything.

Theresa Steinlein initially prevailed in the semi-finals on the final Friday and reached the final of the top four. In the four-way battle with the British top favourite Emma Wilson, Tamar Steinberg from Israel and Norwegian Maya Gysler, the German windsurfer even won the first heat.

Mentally strong for success at the iQFOiL World Championships

"A clear head was crucial this week. Nothing else mattered but having a clear head," emphasised the 23-year-old windsurfing athlete from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein. She kept her head right through to the final of the top four. Then, despite strong duels, Emma Wilson was no longer able to hold off "Resi" Steinlein in the final sprint. Although Tamar Steinberg was also able to win a heat, Wilson prevailed with impressive speed and took her World Championship gold ahead of Steinberg and Steinlein, while Maya Gyslar remained without precious metal.

It is a hardship that after the main round, quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Olympic windsurfing competition, four finalists have to face each other, meaning that one or one of them has to go home "empty-handed" when it comes to deciding the medals. Theresa Steinlein was not. The bronze medallist's best quality in this long week at the World Championships? "Just never give up!" She was particularly pleased that she cleared the semi-final hurdle this time.

DSV head coach Dom Tidey said of Theresa Steinlein's performance: "It's the first World Championship medal for a German iQFOil windsurfer. Theresa has grown as an athlete since the Olympic Games, strong in all areas. Now it looks like she belongs up there. Her downwind speed is world class, upwind she's in the top five women."

Dom Tidey is head trainer and iQFOiL expert

Tidey should know. He was once a world-class windsurfer himself, once coached multiple Olympic medallist Nick Dempsey and celebrated world championship gold in Brest in 2022 with iQFOiL world champion Sebastian Kördel as his coach. In the meantime Dom Tidey as head coach for the German Sailing Team has many overarching tasksHowever, he is often on site with the athletes and discipline coaches at major events in all classes.

He was also in Aarhus this week, accompanying the iQFOiL World Championships and the team led by windsurfing coach Daniel Slijk in Aarhus. At the Sailing Centre, Dom Tidey said: "As the German Sailing Team, we want to win as many medals as possible on course for LA 2028. This is the next one." Daniel Slijk commented on Theresa Steinlein's outstanding performance: "She worked extremely hard in all areas. She had a consistent World Championship week with strong speed. The key was her mindset: she was very calm and knew exactly what she had to do."

At this iQFOiL World Championship, the other young talents from the German Sailing Team were not yet able to match the brilliant performances of the now retired champion Sebastian Kördel or the current number one Theres Steinlein. Click here for the World Championship results of the 79 female and 117 male starters at the 2025 World Championships.

World champion Brown: "simply super happy"

A Brit also won the men's event: Andy Brown could hardly believe his gold and said: "I'm shocked." He thanked his team with touching words and said: "I've been surfing full-time since 2017 and didn't know what was coming this year. But I hoped it would come eventually. Now I'm just super happy.". Silver and bronze went to Tom Arnoux (France) and the dethroned defending champion Nicolo Renna (Italy).

REPLAY! If you want to watch the finals again, you can find them here in the replay of the live broadcast from the last day of the iQFOiL World Championships in Aarhus: