Wingfoil Athlete
Maddalena Spanu
Born in Cagliari in 2006, Maddalena Spanu lives in Oristano, Sardinia. She has made a name for herself in the world of board sports, including windsurf slalom and above all wingfoil racing - a discipline in which she is the reigning world champion. Her sporting adventures began when she took up surfing at just 4 years of age, followed at 6 by a passion for windsurfing.
In 2019, when she was not quite 12 years old, she won the Italian U15 windsurf slalom championship and took second place in the European U15 women's IFCA Slalom. In 2020 she clinched the U17 Worlds and the U15 Italian slalom championship. In 2021 she took up the challenge of wingfoil racing, quickly emerging as one of the top athletes nationally and internationally. That same year she continued competing in windsurf slalom, where she won the Junior European Championship and came second at the Junior World Championship. In 2022, she triumphed in the national slalom championship, confirming her reputation as one of the top athletes in the discipline. Her successes include numerous victories in legs of the Italian Championship and World Cup in wingfoil, culminating in the U19 World title and other World Cup victories. She has also achieved significant results in windsurf foiling and kite foiling, winning national titles and competing in prestigious international events including the Youth World Sailing Championships in 2022, held in the Netherlands.
2023 proved to be a year of success and personal fulfilment for Maddalena, culminating in winning the Wingfoil World Championship in Brazil, the Italian leg of the World Cup in Cagliari, Italy, and the national championship in Oristano. Throughout the entire season, she consistently maintained a top position in the World Championship, distinguishing herself as one of the world's leading athletes in the discipline.
In 2024, she entered the Young Azzurra programme and now competes under the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda burgee.