Riding the wind

For Li Suofeiya, everything begins with the wind.

The 18-year-old athlete from Beijing spends hours every day training to read it — feeling subtle shifts in direction, sensing when it strengthens or fades. On the water, those invisible signals determine every movement of her body and board as she glides above the waves at highway speeds.

"It's about finding the balance between how much you push and how much you remain steady and stable," Li said. "You have to understand the feeling of the wind."

That sensitivity has helped her rise quickly in one of sailing's newest and fastest-growing disciplines: Formula Kite.

At the Youth Sailing World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, in December 2025, Li dominated the women's Formula Kite competition, leading all nine races and securing the gold medal — the first world championship title for China in the sport.

Stepping onto the podium after the race, the intensity of competition finally gave way to emotion.

"On the water, you're focused on the wind, the waves, your rivals," she said."On the podium, I felt proud and so honored to win this gold for China."

Li's path to the pinnacle of youth sailing reflects a modern sporting journey. Born in Russia and raised in Beijing, her introduction to the sport came through family rather than institutional scouting.

In 2016, her parents began kitesurfing recreationally. Li and her sister were too young to ride a board, so they spent their time on the beach learning to control the kite.

When Li finally stood on a kiteboard for the first time in 2019, the thrill was immediate.

"It gave me a sense of freedom," she said.

For Li and a growing number of young athletes, freedom is part of the core appeal of Formula Kite. "People come back from the water feeling completely different — full of emotion, full of life," she said.

Emerging at the intersection of stunt kiting, windsurfing, surfing, and wake-boarding, Formula Kite is a dynamic hybrid water sport. Athletes harness a kite to propel themselves across the water while standing on a compact hydrofoil board. Once the board lifts above the surface, riders skim across the water with remarkable speed and precision, often reaching 70 to 90 kilometers per hour.

The combination of speed and aerial agility has earned elite competitors the nickname "flyers on the sea".

But racing in Formula Kite is not only about speed. Athletes must constantly make tactical decisions while navigating the course and responding to changing conditions on the water.

"This sport requires high technical skills," Li explained. "You need to adjust your body position according to wave patterns and currents while reading the wind gusts, and adapt your tactics depending on where your rivals are."

Li's training routine is largely dictated by the wind. On ideal days with stable conditions, she might complete two sessions on the water. On other days, one session may be replaced with strength training in the gym.

Until last year, Li trained at the Beijing Shichahai Sports School. Since then, she has been training with China's national team, which has bases in Haikou, Hainan province, and Pingtan in Fuzhou, Fujian province.

The team is expanding rapidly as the sport gains momentum in China.

"We have a great number of athletes working every single day, progressing non-stop," she said.

Li has also witnessed the global popularity of Formula Kite growing, especially since its inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

She believes media exposure has helped fuel that growth, and the sport's breathtaking nature also makes it especially appealing in the social media age.

"I think a lot of people in the new, upcoming generation will absolutely love the sport," she said.

Li is particularly encouraged to see more young people — especially girls — entering the discipline, and she is proud to be among the early generation of female athletes in the sport.

One of the things she values most about Formula Kite, she noted, is that it does not fit the stereotype of a male-dominated extreme sport.

"There is almost an equal number of girls and boys in the sport. I hope to see more girls out there at the top. If I can do it, a lot of girls can too," she said.

With the 2028 Olympics on the horizon, Li says she prefers to focus on daily work rather than the distant goal.

"Just train and improve," she said.

To her, Formula Kite offers far more than results. "The sport has fundamentally shaped me," she said, adding that it has helped her gain self-confidence and learn how to perform under pressure.

But ultimately, for Li, Formula Kite remains a fun sport — harnessing the wind's power, chasing freedom at high speed, and charting a new course for herself and for a new generation of Chinese female athletes.

guiqian@i21st.cn