Olympic Rings
Tuesday 8 June 2021 The last of the Olympic qualifying tournaments (the ISA World Surfing Games) has finished and 40 surfers have been officially named for Tokyo, including two South Africans.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT: Matt McGillivray still has a lot of surfing left despite losing out. Photo Franco
Jordy Smith qualifies via his ranking on the 2019 World Surf League Championship Tour, while Bianca Buitendag cracks the nod via her result in the 2019 World Surfing Games. South Africa had only one surfer in the Games held in El Salvador, but Matt McGillivray failed to qualify despite his credible equal 13th. The 450 points he earned for that was the only score for "Team SA", who came 40th out of 51 teams.
Twenty women and 20 men were chosen from four qualifying events: the 2019 WSL CT, 2021 World Surfing Games, 2019 World Surfing Games, and 2019 Pan American Games. The 40 qualifiers hail from 17 countries, a testimony to the global reach and appeal of surfing.
Team France won gold at the fully named "Surf City El Salvador ISA World Surfing Games" at the break of La Bocana in clean 4 foot surf. Led by an individual Gold Medal from Joan Duru and a Bronze Medal from Jeremy Flores, Team France surpassed Japan in the final heat of the day to emerge victorious.
GOLD MEDAL: Joan Duru takes gold in this event, but won't be in the Olympics. Photo Reed
It is France’s first Gold since they hosted the 2017 edition in Biarritz, France. Pauline Ado's result in the Games cemented her slot in the French Olympic squad, which is gauranteed a full complement of two men and two women surfers. Unfortunately for Duru, Michel Bourez and Flores had already qualified for Tokyo via the WSL CT.
The silver medal for Team Japan makes it the third consecutive time they have placed on the podium at the Games, a testament to the huge growth of surfing ahead of the Olympics. Japan won Team Gold at the 2018 edition, Bronze in 2019, and now Silver in 2021. Portugal earned the Team Bronze and Peru the Copper.
Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons made history by becoming the first athlete to earn individual Gold three times in the World Surfing Games. Fitzgibbons first accomplished the feat in 2008 before earning her second Gold in 2018.
IN BLACK AND WHITE: Sally Fitzgibbons now has three ISA World Games gold medals. Photo Reed
“This is a great runway heading into Tokyo 2020. Just competing and seeing all the Olympians get their spots is great. Being on the World Tour we don’t get to surf against a lot of the other Olympians. It’s good practice to go against them and spend time bonding with the rest of the Aussie team.
“Surfing has finally arrived as a global sport. It’s got the recognition now. We are going to the Olympics. It’s cool to have that as a milestone in my career. I want to go as long as I can in the sport because I love it.”
Going into the final day of competition 39 of the 40 total Olympic slots had been determined, leaving just one spot left to be earned at the 2021 World Surfing Games. The final slot would be decided in the Men’s Repechage Final between two teammates, Japan’s Hiroto Ohhara and Shun Murakami and it was Ohhara who got the nod.
OLYMPIANS: More than half the athletes bound for Tokyo were at this event. Photo Franco
The Women’s Grand Final featured 4 surfers who had all already confirmed their slots in Tokyo 2020. Fitzgibbons, who qualified via the 2019 WSL Championship Tour, squared off against three surfers who had earned their qualification on Saturday through the 2021 World Surfing Games: Portugal’s Yolanda Sequeira, Portugal’s Teresa Bonvalot, and Peru’s Daniella Rosas.
The Men’s Grand Final featured France’s Duru and Flores against Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi and Ohhara with three Olympians in the mix, and it was the non-Olympian who took the win.
At the Closing Ceremony, the ISA brought all Olympians in attendance to the stage to recognize their historic achievements in becoming part of the first wave of Olympic surfers.
ISA President Fernando Aguerre presented each qualifier with a commemorative trophy featuring a unique Tokyo 2020 surfboard fin to honor their achievements. Additionally, Aguerre reinforced the South American dominance of ISA surfing events when he recognized the strong commitment and support of the government of El Salvador to host this historic edition of the event by providing Tourism Minister Morena Valdez with a plaque of recognition and the ‘Sands of the World’ from the Opening Ceremony, so the event’s legacy remains in El Salvador.
RINGS IN THE SUN: Funny how symbolism reflects in the twinkle of sea and sun. Photo Jimenez
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers
WOMEN:
2019 WSL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR
Carissa Moore (USA)
Caroline Marks (USA)
Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA)
Silvana Lima (BRA)
Brisa Hennessy (CRC)
Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
Johanne Defay (FRA)
2021 WORLD SURFING GAMES
Yolanda Sequeria (POR)
Teresa Bonvalot (POR)
Daniella Rosas (PER)
Leilani McGonagle (CRC)
Mahina Maeda (JPN)
Amuro Tsuzuki (JPN)
Pauline Ado (FRA)
2019 WORLD SURFING GAMES
Anat Lelior (ISR)
Bianca Buitendag (RSA)
Ella Williams (NZL)
Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
2019 PAN AM GAMES
Dominic Barona (ECU)
MEN:
2019 WSL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR:
Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Italo Ferreira (BRA)
Kolohe Andino (USA)
John John Florence (USA)
Owen Wright (AUS)
Julian Wilson (AUS)
Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Michel Bourez (FRA)
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
Jordy Smith (RSA)
2021 WORLD SURFING GAMES
Leon Glatzer (GER)
Miguel Tudela (PER)
Lucca Mesinas (PER)
Manuel Selman (CHI)
Hiroto Ohhara (JPN)
2019 WORLD SURFING GAMES
Rio Waida (INA)
Frederico Morais (POR)
Billy Stairmand (NZL)
Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)
2019 PAN AM GAMES
Leandro Usuna (ARG)