Will 2024 be the year of the Canarian Champion?
At the Gran Canaria Frontón King, we started this project to promote and develop this great sport, highlighting the immense talent in the Canary Islands. We have already crowned a Junior World Champion.
Will we achieve a World Champion in the Men divison in 2024?
Will 2024 be the year we crown a World Champion in the Men category?
The Frontón King was born in 2013 after the sudden cancellation of the IBA World Tour event in Gáldar. Three Canary Island brands, made up of a group of good friends, came together with passion and motivation. SecretPoints, Dharma Company, and Link Store, with great support from the Ayuntamiento de Gáldar and Red Bull, teamed up to celebrate this first local event, which featured many international riders. With a tight budget but a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, the first edition of the Frontón King took place. It was a humble championship that surprised everyone, as viewers could watch the event from anywhere in the world thanks to live streaming. It featured international, national, and local riders and marked the beginning of an event that promised to be one of the best shows in the world. In this edition, the local tradition was born that the champion and king of Frontón King isn’t really the king until they lift a bunch of bananas weighing between 110 and 150 pounds for 10 seconds while the crowd counts. They must also hold a Canary puppy with the king of clubs card. This symbolizes the town of Gáldar and the area around El Frontón, as well as all the farmers who work daily to grow one of the most prized treasures, the Canary banana. FRONTÓN KING 2013 KING / MIGUEL MACÍAS (Canarias)
To kick off the second edition, Epic Events was born, the name that brings together the founders of the Frontón King, united by their love for bodyboarding, the Frontón, and a dream: to grow this sport, create a fan base, promote camaraderie among participants, and make Gran Canaria a global destination for water sports.
And while the Frontón fulfills dreams, a new king arrives—this time it’s the promising Guillermo Cobo, who put on the most extreme show in the water.
FRONTÓN KING 2014 KING / GUILLERMO COBO (Canarias)
This edition of Frontón King was a game changer. The Cabildo de Gran Canaria became the main sponsor of the event through its Tourism Board, giving birth to the Gran Canaria Frontón King Pro.
With the Cabildo's support came better facilities, a bigger reputation, and more prize money. The championship gained international visibility and took its first step toward joining the world circuit.
It was definitely a special edition with a huge leap in quality, and the winner, who would later become closely associated with Frontón, was Amaury Lavernhe from Réunion Island. KING OF FRONTÓN 2015 / AMAURY LAVERNHE (Réunion Island)
In 2016, with help from the Cabildo de Gran Canaria through the Tourism Board, the Insular Sports Institute, and the Ayuntamiento de Gáldar, the Gran Canaria Frontón King Pro became part of the World Bodyboard Circuit. It was the last event of the circuit that year, so the best athletes from around the globe headed to Gran Canaria, specifically Gáldar, to see who would be crowned the 2016 World Men Division Bodyboard Champion.
KING OF FRONTÓN 2016 / AMAURY LAVERNHE (Réunion Island)
PIERRE LOUIS COSTES (France) / APB World Tour WORLD CHAMPION
The fifth edition of the Gran Canaria Frontón King came with two more world titles to be claimed in Gáldar. In 2017, the Frontón wave, the best wave on the planet for bodyboarding, crowned champions not just in the Men’s Division, but also in the Women’s Division and Junior Men’s Division.
This special edition introduced the Dropknee category, one of the most spectacular, adding even more excitement to the competition.
KING OF FRONTÓN 2017 / JARED HOUSTON (South Africa) QUEEN OF FRONTÓN 2017 / ISABELA SOUSA (Brazil) KING JUNIOR 2017 / WILLIAM LUJÁN (Canary Islands) KING DROPKNEE 2017 / LAURY GRENIER (France)
Six years later, the massive impact of the Gran Canaria Frontón King was undeniable. Riders from all over the globe, packed stands, and thousands of spectators from a hundred countries followed the competition minute by minute. This event was recognized as one of the Major Events of Gran Canaria, thanks to the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and its European Sports Island project.
In 2018, the Frontón King also became the first championship in bodyboarding history to award $36,000 in prizes. Higher quality. Greater visibility. The wave knows no limits
KING OF THE FRONTÓN 2018 / AMAURY LAVERNHE (Réunion Island) / QUEEN OF THE FRONTÓN 2018 / TERESA MIRANDA (Canary Islands)
In its seventh edition, the Frontón wave experienced one of its most emotional moments when French rider Tristan Roberts claimed both the King of the Frontón crown and the title of Bodyboard World Champion. Roberts was one of many international riders eagerly awaiting this event, which had already established itself as the best bodyboarding competition in the world
Canary Islander Alexandra Rinder became the Frontón Queen in 2019. Just days earlier, Japanese rider Sari Ohara celebrated her title as world champion right here on the Gran Canaria wave.
KING OF THE FRONTÓN 2019 / TRISTAN ROBERTS (SOUTH AFRICA) / QUEEN OF THE FRONTÓN 2019 / ALEXANDRA RINDER (Austria / Canary Islands) / TRISTAN ROBERTS (SOUTH AFRICA) / 2019 IBC WORLD TOUR CHAMPION / SARI OHARA (JAPAN) / 2019 IBC WORLD TOUR CHAMPION
When a wave has the power of the Frontón, not even a global pandemic can stop it. In 2020, the Gran Canaria Frontón King became the only sporting event held in Gran Canaria during the COVID-19 health emergency. A strict safety protocol and extreme health precautions made it possible.
Athletes enjoyed the competition to the fullest after a whole year without events. Gran Canaria positioned itself as one of the safest destinations on the planet, and its image went around the world.
KING OF THE FRONTÓN 2020 / LIONEL MEDINA (Canary Islands) / QUEEN OF THE FRONTÓN 2020 / TERESA MIRANDA (Canary Islands)
In 2021, the World Circuit made its comeback to the Frontón, which had the honor of crowning, for the first time in its history, the junior world champion. The young rider from Cantabria, Luis Tausía, achieved this feat, also being crowned as the King of the Frontón. It was undoubtedly the best final in recent years, with packed stands and incredible conditions, and Pierre Louis Costes took home the championship title. The Gran Canaria Frontón King is, without a doubt, one of the best shows in the world.
KING JUNIOR 2021 / LUIS TAUSÍA (Spain) / KING OF THE FRONTÓN 2021 / PIERRE LOUIS COSTES (France) / LUIS TAUSÍA (SPAIN) / IBC World Tour World Champion 2021
Ten years. A whole decade of hard work, effort, and success. The successes of the Frontón King are also the successes of the riders.
For such a special occasion, the Frontón King threw a big party. Live music, DJs, and a skateboarding championship turned the coast of Gáldar into a sports spectacle to celebrate that the Frontón wave championship, ten years later, is at its peak.
Plus, this special edition featured the King of Kings, where champions from all editions faced off in an exclusive format for this occasion.
KING OF THE FRONTÓN 2022 / JEFF HUBBARD (Hawaii) / KING JUNIOR 2022 / DAVID PÉREZ (Canarias) / KING OF KINGS (10 YEARS) / TRISTAN ROBERTS (South Africa) / JORGE HERNÁNDEZ (Canarias) / IBC WORLD TOUR JUNIOR CHAMPION / TRISTAN ROBERTS (South Africa) / IBC WORLD TOUR WORLD CHAMPION 2022
The eleventh edition of the Gran Canaria Frontón King was full of tension and surprises. This edition will go down in history for its excitement, as local riders played a major role in the world title decisions, with several athletes vying for the title in both the Junior and Men’s divisions.
KING OF THE FRONTÓN 2023 / DAVID PÉREZ (Canarias) / KING JUNIOR 2023 / MICHEEL YANCCE (Peru) / TANNER MCDANIEL (Hawaii) / IBC World Tour WORLD CHAMPION 2023 / MICHEEL YANCCE (Peru) / JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION 2023 IBC World Tour
SoDespués de un año de infarto en el Tour Mundial, con continuos cambios en las posiciones del ranking y una emoción que se mantuvo hasta la última ola, el canario Armides Soliveres was crowned 024 World Champion, despite the final event being won by South African Tristan Roberts, who was also one of the season’s main protagonists.
Moreover, the Gran Canaria Frontón King (GCFK) was not only the stage for the world title showdown but also witnessed another local talent shine: Alexander Monte, who claimed the title of 2024 Junior Men World Champion..
Thus, the GCFK 2024 made history by crowning two Canarian world champions, reaffirming Gran Canaria as the global epicenter of bodyboarding.
A 2025 Full of Thrills and Historic Changes
This year, the Bodyboard World Tour is more competitive than ever. Up to five athletes in the Men’s division arrive with real chances of being crowned world champions, promising a season full of adrenaline and surprises.
Moreover, the new qualification policy in the Junior division is revolutionizing the championship: everyone starts from scratch, with equal opportunities and the chance to become world champions.
The question remains: Who will conquer the Gran Canaria Frontón King, and who will lift the world title in 2025? The excitement is guaranteed.
