The winners in the girl’s category each came from a European country but it was Italy’s Sofia Tomasoni who won the coveted gold medal.

The Italian spoke of her shock: “When I came to Barra Grande I did not expect to finish first but there was strong wind, there were many races and I won a lot of them,” she said.

Tomasoni’s challenge now, just like all the other riders, is to qualify for a place at next year’s Youth Olympics.

It was only after the race that Tomasoni realised that she has a huge chance of participating in next year’s Youth Olympic Games.

She refused to get carried away with the idea, and added: “If I qualify I will start thinking about it.

"One step at a time.”

Lola Ulrich, of France, took silver and spoke of her excitement for next year’s games.

"It is a dream but suddenly it is approaching fast," she said.

France had a particularly good championship in Barra Grande with three riders finishing in the girl's top six.

Spain’s European champion Nina Font Castells claimed the final place on the podium.

Cameron Maramenides of the U.S. took home the gold medal in the boy’s event.

The 15-year-old, who first went kiteboarding on his father’s shoulders when he was just a few months old, managed to get a huge lead in the first two days of the competition, which allowed him to make a few mistakes in the following days.

Manoel Soares Dos Santos Neto ensured the host country came away from the championships with a good result as he secured the silver medal.

As was the case in the girl’s event, the bronze medal was taken by the European champion.

This time, it was Victor Bachichet, of France, who joked about the conditions he faced.

‘It was a cool event with lots of wind and lots of tangles.

“Maybe I should start training with boots, it was hard to keep the board on my feet,” he said.

As was the case in the girl's event, France showed their strength in depth in boy's kiteboarding with riders Benoit Gomez and Anthony Picard finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Following the events in Barra Grande, the President of the Brazilian kiteboarding association (ABK)  Augusto Sampaio, said that his dream had come true during the week.

Not only had his association had the privilege of hosting the event, he explained, but one of his compatriots had won a medal in, Dos Santos Neto.

Sampaio said he hopes that Dos Santos Neto’s excellent result will draw the Brazilian sailing federation’s (CBV) attention to the potential of youth kiteboarding.

The CBV’s events and youth manager, Walter Boddener, was also impressed by the level of the Brazilian kiteboarders, particularly Dos Santos Neto.

He said that although kiteboarding is a new sport for Brazilian sailing, he is sure there will be support for the riders ahead of next year’s Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Airies, Argentina.

Markus Schwendtner, chief executive of the International Kiteboarding Association and race director for the event, was impressed by the grassroots work done in the sport in Brazil and was full of praise for the performance of the Brazilian riders.

According to the Argentina kiteboard national team's coach, Mario Sampaolesi, his country, which will host next year’s Youth Olympic Games, is a potential hotspot for the sport.

He believes that there are a variety of good locations in Argentina for hosting kiteboarding events whilst it is also affordable and accessible to everyone.

Following this event in Brazil, there will be further Youth Olympic qualifying events in Cabarete, Dominican Republic,  from January 15 to 20; Dakhla, Morocco, from February 20 to 25 and in Pranburi, Thailand, March 13 to 18.