This article originally appeared on Surfer.com and was republished with permission.
Heading into Pipe, only four provisional Olympic spots were secured on the men’s side. Kolohe Andino (USA), Jeremy Flores (France), Jordy Smith (South Africa) and Kanoa Igarashi (Japan) had qualified by the end of the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal last month, which left 6 slots open for the taking this week.
One of the most talked-about Olympic qualification battles was the race for the second spot on Team USA–a position that two of the best surfers to have ever lived (2x World Champ John Florence and 47-year-old Kelly Slater) were vying for. After Florence bowed out in the quarterfinals, Slater had the chance to seal the Olympic qualification deal if he clinched the Pipe Masters. But, if you watched any part of Italo’s utter domination yesterday, you know that wasn’t the case for Slater.
In order for the below names to officially qualify for the Olympics, all they have to do is show up to the 2020 World Games next year and compete (even if they perform poorly, they’ll still make their respective teams). They’ll also be joined by Shun Murakami (JPN), Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Billy Stairmand (NZL), Frederico Morais (POR), Shino Matsuda (JPN), Anat Lelior (ISR), Bianca Buitendag (RSA), Ella Williams (NZL), Lucca Messinas (PER) and Daniella Rosas (PER) in Tokyo, who have provisionally qualified via the 2019 Pan Am and World Surfing Games.
Stay tuned for more information throughout 2020 as there are still 12 spots left up for grabs.
Men’s ‘CT 2020 Olympics Qualifiers:
John John Florence (USA)
Kolohe Andino (USA)
Italo Ferreira (Brazil)
Gabriel Medina (Brazil)
Owen Wright (Australia)
Julian Wilson (Australia)
Jeremy Flores (France)
Michel Bourez (France)
Kanoa Igarashi (Japan)
Jordy Smith (South Africa)
Women’s ‘CT 2020 Olympics Qualifiers:
Carissa Moore (USA)
Caroline Marks (USA)
Stephanie Gilmore (Australia)
Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia)
Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil)
Silvana Lima (Brazil)
Johanne Defay (France)
Brisa Hennessy (Costa Rica)
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/2Q5hhI5
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