Kai Minejima-Lee, 17, defends his World Cup of Indoor Skydiving freestyle title
SINGAPORE, April 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On 4 April 2026, at iFLY Aix-Marseille in the south of France, Kai Minejima-Lee defended his Solo Freestyle Open title at the 6th FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving. It was his 17th birthday — and exactly ten years since he first flew. Kai is represented by APRW, his appointed integrated communications agency.
Results
Kai claimed gold in the Solo Freestyle Open, defending the title he first won in Macau in 2024. He is the first athlete in the competition's history to have done so. He also took bronze in Solo Speed and was part of Singapore's gold-medal 4-Way Dynamic team alongside Kyra Poh, Vera Poh, and Choo Yi Xuan.
In total, Kai contributed three of Singapore's six medals at the competition.
His technical score in the Solo Freestyle final was 9.5 out of 10. Toms Ivans of Latvia, a former coach, scored 9.3.
Singapore finished with six medals across four athletes — two gold, three silver, one bronze — above France and Germany in the overall medal tally.
The Story
The results aside, the day carried a detail worth noting.
On 4 April 2016 — his seventh birthday — Kai took his first flight at what was then iFLY Singapore. He had been watching Kyra Poh's competition videos since he was four years old. Too young to fly (the minimum age in Singapore is seven), he had spent three years waiting. That birthday, he finally stepped into the tunnel.
Kyra was there.
On 4 April 2026, Kai stood on the podium at Aix-Marseille with Kyra Poh beside him. She had come second. It was the first time Singapore had occupied both top positions in an open freestyle event at World Cup level.
"Exactly ten years ago I took my first flight on my 7th birthday with Kyra, and now ten years later I am proud to be standing on the podium next to my friend, mentor and teammate. To represent Singapore and win my second open freestyle title alongside Kyra is special, and I'm so grateful for the decade of friendship, love and support from my team and family."
— Kai Minejima-Lee
About Kai
Kai has competed internationally since the age of seven, accumulating over 50 medals across nine years, including 28 gold. He has reached the podium at his last 17 competitions.
He is the 2025 Singapore Sports Boy of the Year and a spexScholarship recipient.
Kai is currently pursuing an IB diploma at Eastwood Global Online School. Before that, he was homeschooled — and in between competitions, completed a course in Multivariable Calculus at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. At ten years old, he delivered his first TEDx talk. He holds a junior black belt (3rd poom) in Taekwondo and also practises Wushu.
Background
Kai first won the Solo Freestyle Open title at the 5th FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving in Macau in 2024, where he was 15 and competing in the open category for the first time.
"There was so much hard work put into that," he said after his first win in Macau in 2024, where he competed in the open category for the first time. In France this year, competing as the defending champion, he finished with a technical score of 9.5.
Kai Minejima-Lee's Results at WCIS 2026
Event |
Result |
Note |
Solo Freestyle Open |
GOLD — title |
Highest technical score in field: |
Solo Speed Open |
BRONZE |
|
4-Way Dynamic Open (with |
GOLD |
Overall National Medal Tally
Country |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Singapore |
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
France |
2 |
— |
2 |
4 |
Germany |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
Switzerland |
— |
2 |
1 |
3 |
Belgium |
1 |
— |
— |
1 |
Finland |
— |
— |
1 |
1 |
Australia |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Austria |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Brazil |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Cyprus |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Czech Republic |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Israel |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Italy |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Korea |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Latvia |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Luxembourg |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Netherlands |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Poland |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Spain |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Thailand |
— |
— |
— |
— |
United Kingdom |
— |
— |
— |
— |
USA |
— |
— |
— |
— |
SOURCE APRW
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