Countdown to the 2025 Red Bull King of the Air: Josh Gillitt

South Africa’s Josh Gillitt arrives at his second Red Bull King of the Air (KOTA) with a fire that goes far beyond riding at his best at home. Known for his full-send approach and ability to shut off fear, he’s spent the season walking the line between progression and consequence, including one of the scariest crashes of the year at Lords of Tram, where he was knocked unconscious in the water.

The recovery was long, the mental battle even longer, but weeks out of the water didn’t dull his drive. The 20-year-old, who has been part of the F-ONE family ever since he started kiting at eight, now comes into KOTA seeking something he openly admits: redemption.

In recent months, he’s stacked competitive experience at events like the Red Bull Megaloop and the Cold Hawaii qualifier, and feels stronger than he did last year. Riding on home turf, backed by Cape Town’s familiar winds and a supportive crowd ready to cheer him on, Josh is determined to prove exactly what he can do when everything aligns.

Since I came back from Cold Hawaii in October, there’s been wind almost every day here in Cape Town. So, it’s been full-on training in the gym and in the water. Honestly, this is probably the best preseason Cape Town I’ve ever known as well, which is awesome. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.

Of course, I have to make sure I don’t overdo it either so my body isn’t completely fried before the start of the competition. But this week in particular has been amazing; it’s probably the best week leading up to KOTA we’ve had in the past four or five years, in my opinion.

I just took everything this year a bit more seriously. I’ve been working really hard in the gym with my coach Ruan, who has me doing full-body workouts and working on muscles that aren’t necessarily even used for kiting. But I’ve gotten stronger that way. We’ve also focused a lot on flexibility, which has probably been very helpful in me not breaking in half from some of the crashes I’ve taken this year.

I just took everything this year a bit more seriously. I’ve been working really hard in the gym with my coach Ruan, who has me doing full-body workouts and working on muscles that aren’t necessarily even used for kiting. But I’ve gotten stronger that way. We’ve also focused a lot on flexibility, which has probably been very helpful in me not breaking in half from some of the crashes I’ve taken this year.

A lot more confident than last year, for sure. Back then, I went into it with so much stress, and putting too much pressure on myself. Whereas this year, I still want to do well of course, but I’ve also realized that overdoing it is not helpful either.

If you overthink it too much, then you get in your head and it messes with you, even in training. So I am trying to put a little less pressure on myself this time around, and to enjoy the experience more. I’ve learned a lot from all the competitions I’ve done, even the ones I’ve crashed in, and I’ve got a good idea of all the tricks that I want to land.

Yes, there’s a specific trick I’m working on at the moment. I don’t want to say what it is though; I want to keep that as a surprise. Hopefully, I’ll have it dialed for KOTA because it would be fricking insane to pull it off, so I’m super keen. I’ve also been working as hard as possible on my single loops, because that’s been my weakness and I’m feeling more confident every session.

I’m still working on my strategy, to be honest, but I won’t be winging it, that’s for sure. I do have one in mind, but it all depends on the conditions and many other factors. So I’m just going to work out every possible plan for every different condition that we might come across.

I do think that I can show my best when I’m fully powered with the 8 m² and I can just go huge. I can also hold down a lot of power, a lot more than some other riders, which also helps me a lot. But overall, I hope we will get stronger conditions than last year.

My goals for this year’s KOTA would be, at a minimum, to make the semifinals. That would be a huge step from last year. Again, I was very unlucky last year too, and I got stuck out to sea after a crash. By the time I got back to the beach, I only had 20 seconds left to get one more trick on the board. So, I was a bit annoyed with how it all went down, and I really want to redeem myself this year because of that too. So yes, semifinals, but obviously to be on the podium is the main goal.

It’s really special. There hasn’t been another event where my parents have been able to be on the beach and watch me. It’s also crazy to have all your friends and other locals on the beach supporting you, shouting your name. It does add a bit of pressure to perform well, but it’s helpful to keep your energy up. It’s the best feeling in the world to have the whole crowd behind you. I love, love South Africans, they definitely show support properly.

I’ll be riding the TRIGGER Brainchild. For single loops, I’ll be on the 9 m², unless it’s really, really nuking, then it’ll be an 8 m². And I’ll have a 6 m² and 7 m² on the beach just in case I see the scoring rewards doubles. If it’s lighter, I’ll also have a 11 m² ready, because I can do all my loop tricks on that as well, which has been something really cool to discover, actually. But, I also hope I won’t be needing my 11 m²! Then, I’ll be riding the new SPARK CARBON twintip, and using the ATOM bar.